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FAITH-HEALING 

CHRISTIAN   SCIENCE   AND 

KINDRED   PHENOMENA 


FAITH-HEALING 
CHRISTIAN   SCIENCE  AND 


KINDRED  PHENOMENA 


I  M.  BUCKLEY.  LL.  D. 


NEW  YORK 

THE  CENTURY  CO. 

1892 


Copyright.  1887, 1888, 1889, 1892,  bv  Thk  Century  Co. 


PROEM 

The  link  connecthuj  the  subjects  treated 
in  this  volume  is  their  dependence  upon 
mental  states.  Should  it  be  thought  that 
Astrolorfij,  Dinnation,  Apparitions,  and 
Witchcraft  are  based  upon  objective  facts, 
it  is  believed  that  the  method  of  their 
ejrplanation  ivill  show  that  they  are  prop- 
erly classified,  llie  author  has  adopted 
certain  pnnciples  as  working  laws: 
namely,  that  before  endeavoriny  to  ex- 
plain how  phetiomena  exist,  it  is  necessary 
to  determine  precisely  tvhat  e.nsts  ; 
and  that  so  long  as  it  is  j^ossible  to 
find  a  rational  explanation  of  ivhat  un- 
questionably is,  there  is  no  reason  to 
suspect,  and  it  is  superstition  to  assume, 
the    operation    of   supernatural    causes. 


CONTENTS 

I 

Faith-Healinu 

PACK 

The  Facts ;{ 

Testimony  to  Particulars 0 

Explanation  of  the  Facts 14 

Inductions ;{7 

The  Miracles  of  Christ  and  His  Apostles .ss 

Claims  of  "Christian  Faith-Healers."  Technically 

so  Called,  Effectually  Discredited 11 

The  Christian  Doctrine  of  Answer  to  Prayer 43 

Defense  op  Faith-Healers  Examined 46 

A  "  Missing  Link" 52 

Evils  of  this  Superstition         55 

Supposed  Difficulties    GO 


II 

Astrology,  Divination,  and  Coincidences 

What  is  Astrology  ? 70 

Evidence  Kelied  Upon   74 

Its  Problems  Mere  Puzzles      7S 

Deaths  of  President  Garfield  and  Louis  Napoleon.  8'J 

Divination 88 

Coincidences 03 

So-Called  "Laws  of  Chance"    09 

The  Letter  M  and  the  Napoleons 100 

Interpretation  of  Coincidences 102 

0 


10  CONTENTS 

III 

Dreams,  Nightmare,  and  Somnambulism 

PAGE 

History  and  Phenomena  of  Dreams 108 

Search  for  Analogies    115 

More  Direct  Evidence 122 

Accounting  for  the  Characteristics  of  Dreams  ...  12S 

Mysterious  Dreams  Analyzed 13() 

Rational  Use  of  Dreams 14S 


IV 

Presentiments,  Visions,  and  Apparitions 

What  is  a  Presentiment  ? 152 

Unsuspected  Mental  Resources 155 

Impressions  and  ''Imperative  Conceptions"    IGO 

Analysis  of  Typical  Presentiments 102 

Visions 1  OS 

Habitual  Visions    1  ?(! 

Visions  of  the  Dying IS  I 

Apparitions 18-i 


V 

Witchcraft 

Definition  OF  Witchcraft 107 

Current  Belief    108 

Looking  Backward 20;i 

Reversing  the  Point  of  View 200 

The  Israelites  and  Witchcraft 208 

Witchcraft  and  Christianity 200 

The  Problem 212 

Does  the  Bible  Teach  the  Reality  of  Witchcraft?  218 

The  Witch  of  Endor        .  221 


CONTENTS  1] 

PACK 

Trial  op  Cases 223 

Explanation  of  Confessions 227 

Explanation  of  Phenomena 225) 

Reaction  from  the  Frenzy 23:{ 


VI 

''Christian  Science"  and  "Mind  Cure" 

Theory 243 

Practice 251 

Specimen  Treatments 257 

Mind  Curkrs  rersiis  Faith-Healers,  Mesmerists,  Etc,  261 

Tests  of  The  Theory 203 

Explanation  of  their  Alleged  Success 275 


FAITH-HEALING 


IN  1849  I  first  saw  performances  in  "animal  mag- 
netism." A  "  professor,"  of  fluency,  fine  appear- 
ance, and  marked  self-possession,  lectured  with  il- 
lustrations ;  feeble  men  after  being  "  magnetized " 
became  strong,  and  persons  ordinarily  reticent  spoke 
eloquently  on  subjects  suggested  by  the  audience. 
Great  excitement  arose,  and  the  attention  of  medical 
men  was  attracted  to  the  curative  powers  of  "mag- 
netism." A  dentist,  who  was  also  a  physician,  ac- 
quired the  art,  and  a  paralytic  when  under  "  the 
influence"  moved  an  arm  long  useless.  Persons 
whose  teeth  were  extracted  felt  no  pain  during  the 
operation. 

Some  years  afterward,  at  boarding-school,  a  young 
man  who  was  very  devout  occupied  a  room  with 
me.  A  revival  in  town  extended  to  the  school,  and 
the  young  man  was  brought  from  a  meeting  in  a 
"trance"  and  placed  upon  the  bed.  He  was  uncon- 
scious for  some  hours ;  his  limbs  were  rigid,  and  it 
was  possible  to  lift  him  by  the  head  and  feet  without 
his  body  yielding  in  the  least  degree;  nor  could  the 
strongest  man  bend  his  arms.  At  length  he  opened 
his  eyes,  uttei-ed  pious  ejaculations,  and  relapsed;  this 
recurred  at  iireguhir  intervals.  By  one  o'clock  in  tlie 
morning  he  had  resumed  his  natural  state.    Feeling 


2  FAITH-HEALING 

that  he  had  been  the  subject  of  an  unusual  manifesta- 
tion of  the  favor  of  God,  he  was  very  happy  for  some 
days.  Simihir  seizures  occurred  to  him  during  his 
stay  at  the  institution,  whenever  religious  meetings 
were  unusually  fervent. 

In  1856,  while  in  college,  I  first  saw  the  phenomena 
of  spiritualism  as  displayed  by  a  "  trance  medium " 
and  ""  inspirational  speaker."  Soon  afterward  I  vis- 
ited the  Perfectionist  community  established  by  John 
H.  Noyes,  where  the  cure  of  disease  without  medicine 
and  the  possibility  of  escaping  death  were  expounded. 

In  1857  I  found  certain  ''Millerites"  or  ''Adven- 
tists''  in  the  interior  of  Connecticut  who  claimed  power 
to  heal  by  prayer  and  without  medicine,  and — if  they 
could  attain  sufficient  faith — to  raise  the  dead.  This 
they  attempted  in  the  case  of  a  young  woman  who 
had  died  of  fever,  and  continued  in  prayer  for  her 
until  decomposition  compelled  the  civil  authorities 
to  interfere.  This  case  has  been  paralleled  several 
times  recently.  Trances  were  also  common  among 
the  MDlerites  at  their  camp-meetings,  as  they  had 
been  among  the  early  Methodists,  Congregationalists 
in  the  time  of  Jonathan  Edwards,  and  certain  Pres- 
byterians and  Baptists  in  the  early  part  of  this  cen- 
tury in  the  West  and  South, 

In  1859  the  famous  Dr.  Newton  arrived  in  Boston 
on  one  of  his  periodical  visits,  causing  an  extraordi- 
nary sensation.  The  lame  who  visited  him  leaped  for 
joy,  and  left  their  crutches  when  they  departed  ;  in 
some  instances  blindness  was  cured ;  several  chronic 
cases  were  relieved,  and  astonishing  results  re[)()rted 
confounding  ordinary  practitioners,  and  puzzling  one 
or  two  medical  men  of  national  reputation.  I  nuide 
Dr.  Newton's  acquaintance,  and  conversed  with  him 
at  length  and  with  entire  freedom.  His  disci})l('s  be- 
came numerous;  and  "healing  mediums"  and  phy- 


FAITH-HEALING  3 

sicians  who  cure  by  "laying  on  of  hands"  still  exist, 
increasing  rather  than  diminishing  in  number. 

The  circumstance  of  meeting  a  persou  who  had 
been  in  the  habit  of  going  into  trances  in  religious 
meetings,  was  an  easy  subject  for  "  mesmerizers,"  had 
been  cured  by  a  "  healer,"  and  finally  became  a  spir- 
itualist and  "trance  medium,"  suggested  the  ques- 
tion whether  there  might  not  be  a  natural  suscep- 
tibility acted  upon  by  a  general  law.  Nothing  which 
could  shed  light  upon  this  problem  has  been  know- 
ingly neglected  by  the  writer  during  the  past  thirty 
years. 

Two  root  questions  arise  concerning  the  phenomena; 
they  are  the  inquiries  which  lie  at  the  foundation  of 
all  knowledge :  What  are  the  facts,  and  how  may  they 
be  explained  ? 

THE  FACTS 

The  career  of  Prince  Hohenlohe,  Roman  Catholic 
Bishop  of  Sardica,  is  as  well  authenticated  as  any  fact 
in  history.  Dr.  Tuke,  in  his  thoroughly  scientific  work 
on  the  "Influence  of  the  Mind  upon  the  Body,"  ad- 
mits his  cures  as  facts.  The  Prince,  who  was  born 
in  1794,  in  Waldenburg,  was  of  high  position  and 
broad  education,  having  studied  at  several  universi- 
ties. When  twenty-six  years  of  age,  he  met  a  peas- 
ant who  had  performed  several  astonishing  cures, 
"and  from  him  caught  the  enthusiasm  which  he 
subsequently  manifested  in  healing  the  sick."  I 
quote  two  cases  on  the  authority  of  Professor  Ony- 
mus  of  the  University  of  Wiirtzburg.  "  Captain 
Ruthlein,  an  old  gentleman  of  Thundorf,  70  years 
of  age,  who  had  long  been  pronounced  incurable  of 
paralysis  which  kept  his  hand  clinched,  and  who  had 
not  left  his  room  for  many  years,  was  perfectly  cured. 


4  FAITH-HEALING 

Eight  days  after  his  cure  he  paid  me  a  visit,  rejoicing 
in  the  happiness  of  being  able  to  walk  freely.  ...  A 
student  of  Burglauer,  near  Murmerstadt,  had  lost  for 
two  years  the  use  of  his  legs ;  and  though  he  was 
only  partially  relieved  by  the  first  and  second  prayer 
of  the  Prince,  at  the  third  he  found  himself  perfectly 
well." 

Father  Mathew  was  very  successful  in  relieving 
the  sick ;  after  his  death  multitudes  visited  his  tomb, 
and  of  these  many  were  helped  and  left  their  crutches 
there. 

In  all  parts  of  Roman  Catholic  countries,  and  in  the 
Greek  churches  of  Russia,  great  stacks  of  crutches, 
canes,  and  splints  may  be  seen,  which  have  been  left 
by  those  who,  as  Dr.  Tuke  says,  "  there  is  no  reason  to 
doubt,  have  been  cured  and  relieved  of  contracted 
joints  by  the  prayers  offered  at  some  shrine,  or  by 
the  supposed  efficacy  of  their  relics."  Similar  results 
have  been  seen  in  Montreal,  Canada,  within  a  few 
years,  at  solemnities  connected  with  the  deaths  of 
certain  bishops,  one  of  whom  had  performed  many 
cures  through  a  long  career. 

It  cannot  be  denied  that  many  cures  occurred  at 
Knock  Chapel  in  Ireland ;  and  also  at  Lourdes  in 
France,  whose  fame  ''is  entirely  associated  with  the 
grotto  of  Massavielle,  where  the  Virgin  Mary  is  be- 
lieved, in  the  Catholic  world,  to  have  revealed  herself 
repeatedly  to  a  peasant  girl  in  1858."  This  i)lace  is 
resorted  to  by  multitudes  of  pilgi'ims  from  all  parts 
of  the  world,  whose  gifts  have  rendered  possible  the 
building  of  a  large  church  above  the  grotto,  ''conse- 
crated in  1876  in  the  presence  of  thirty-five  cardinals 
and  other  high  ecclesiastical  dignitaries."  The  gifts 
have  been  made  by  devotees,  many  of  whom  claim  to 
have  been  cured  of  ailments  that  defied  medical  treat- 
ment; besides,  a  large  trade  is  carried  on  in  the  water, 


FAITH-HEALING  5 

which  is  distributed  to  all  parts  of  the  world.  I  stood 
by  the  fountain  for  hours  observiuf?  the  pilgrims 
drinking  and  filling  their  bottles.  A  flask  which  was 
filled  for  me  has  stood  on  my  mantel  for  several 
years,  and  I  am  bound  to  say  that  no  serious  illness 
has  occurred  in  the  family  during  that  time.  Many 
recoveries  follow  its  use. 

Nor  is  there  any  reason  to  doubt  that  Joseph  Gass- 
ner,  a  Catholic  priest  in  Swabia,  effected  many  cures. 

Turning  from  the  Roman  Catholic  and  Greek 
churches  to  Protestantism,  five  or  six  names  are  con- 
spicuous in  connection  with  the  production  of  cures 
without  the  use  of  medicine,  and  in  answer  to  prayer. 

Dorothea  Trudel,  a  woman  living  at  Manheim,  long 
had  an  establishment  there.  Marvelous  tales  have 
been  told  of  the  cures,  some  of  which  have  been 
thoroughly  authenticated. 

Another  name  widely  known  is  that  of  the  late  Rev. 
W.  E.  Boardman,  with  whom  I  was  acquainted  for 
many  years.  He  had  an  establishment  in  the  north 
of  Loudon  which  is  designated  ''  Bethshan,"  and  has 
created  quite  i«  sensation.  There  hundreds  of  remark- 
able cures  are  claimed  of  cancer,  paralysis,  advanced 
consumption,  chronic  rheumatism,  and  lameness;  and 
the  usual  tro[)hies  in  the  shape  of  canes,  crutches,  etc., 
are  left  behind.  They  will  not  allow  the  place  to  be 
called  a  hospital,  but  the  ''Nursery  of  Faith."  Their 
usual  mode  is  to  anoint  the  sufferer  with  oil  and  then 
pray;  though  ccmsiderable  variety  in  method  is  prac- 
tised apparently  to  stimulate  faith.  They  profess  to 
effect  many  cures  by  correspondence,  and  assert  that 
the  healing  virtues  claimed  for  French  and  Irish  rel- 
ics by  Roman  Catholics  are  not  to  be  compared  with 
those  exercised  in  answer  to  their  prayers. 

Dr.  Charles  Cullis,  of  Boston,  recently  deceased, 
was  long  noted  in  connection  with  healing  diseases 


6  FAITH-HEALING 

by  faith  and  prayer,  and  among  his  followers  has 
given  Old  Orchard,  Maine,  a  repntation  as  great  as 
the  grotto  at  Lourdes  has  among  Catholics. 

The  Rev.  Mr.  Simpson,  formerly  a  Presbyterian 
minister,  and  now  an  Independent  in  the  city  of  New 
York,  has  also  become  prominent,  and  there  can  be  no 
doubt  of  the  improvement  in  health  of  many  of  the 
persons  for  whom  he  has  prayed.  His  devotees  have 
enabled  him  to  open  a  house  here  to  which  various 
persons,  among  them  some  ministers,  resort  when  ill. 

Mrs.  Mix,  a  colored  woman  living  in  the  State  of 
Connecticut,  had  great  fame;  having  been  the  in- 
strument of  the  cure  of  persons  who  have  devoted 
themselves  to  faith -healing,  attending  conventions, 
writing  books,  etc.  Her  death  was  bewailed  by  many 
respectable  persons,  without  distinction  of  creed,  sex, 
age,  or  color,  who  believed  that  they  had  been  cured 
through  her  prayers. 

One  of  the  elements  of  the  notoriety  of  George  O. 
Barnes,  the  "Mountain  Evangelist,"  of  Kentucky,  was 
his  oft-announced  power  to  heal. 

Having  admitted  in  general  that  real  cures  of  real 
diseases  are  often  made,  it  is  necessary  to  consider 
more  closely  the  subject  of  testimony. 


TESTIMONY   TO   PARTICULARS 

All  honest  and  rational  persons  are  competent  to 
testify  whether  they  feel  sick,  and  whether  they  seem 
better,  or  believe  themselves  to  have  entirely  recovered 
after  being  prayed  for  and  anointed  by  Boardman, 
Simpson,  or  CuUis;  but  their  testimony  as  to  what 
disease  they  had,  or  whether  they  are  entirely  cured, 
is  a  different  matter,  and  to  have  value  must  be  scru- 
tinized in  every  case  by  competent  judges. 


FAITH-HEALING  7 

In  general,  diseases  are  internal  or  external.  It  is 
clear  that  no  individnal  can  know  positively  the  na- 
ture of  any  internal  disease  that  he  has.  The  diag- 
nosis of  the  most  skilful  physicians  may  be  in  error. 
Post-mortems  in  celebrated  cases  have  often  shown 
that  there  had  been  an  entire  misunderstanding  of 
the  malady.  Hysteria  can  simulate  every  known 
complaint :  paralysis,  heart-disease,  and  the  worst 
forms  of  fever  and  ague.  Hypochondria,  to  wiiich 
intelligent  and  highly  educated  persons  of  sedentary 
habits  brooding  over  their  sensations  are  liable,  espe- 
cially if  the}'  are  accustomed  to  read  medical  works 
and  accounts  of  diseases  and  of  their  treatment,  will  do 
the  same.  Dyspepsia  has  various  forms,  and  indiges- 
tion can  produce  symptoms  of  organic  heart-disease, 
while  diseases  of  the  liver  have  often  been  mistaken 
by  eminent  physicians  for  pidmonary  consumption. 
Especially  in  women  do  the  troubles  to  which  they 
are  most  subject  give  rise  to  hysteria,  in  which  con- 
dition they  may  firmly  believe  that  they  are  afflicted 
with  disease  of  the  spine,  of  the  heart,  or  indeed  of  all 
the  organs.  I  heard  an  intelligent  woman  "testify" 
that  she  had  '*  heart-disease,  irritation  of  the  spinal 
cord,  and  Bright's  disease  of  the  kidneys,  and  had  suf- 
fered from  them  all  for  ten  yearsJ'  She  certainly  had 
some  symptoms  of  all  of  them.  Within  eight  years 
a  ''regular''  physician  died,  the  cause,  as  he  sup- 
posed on  the  authority  of  several  examinations,  being 
consumption.  A  post-mortem  showed  his  lungs  sound, 
and  his  death  to  have  been  caused  by  diseases  the  re- 
sult of  the  enormous  quantities  of  food  and  stimu- 
lants he  had  taken  to  **  fight  off  eonsumi)ti()n."  The 
object  of  these  observations  is  simply  to  show  that  tes- 
timony that  a  person  has  been  cured  reflects  no  light 
upon  the  probhun  as  to  what  he  or  slic  was  cured  of, 
if   it  was  claimed  to  be  an  infernal  disease.     Tlu; 


8  FAITH-HEALING 

solemn  assertion  of  a  responsible  person  that  he  was 
cured  of  heart-disease,  can  prove  only  that  the  s^'nip- 
tonis  of  what  he  thought  was  heart-disease  have  dis- 
appeared. 

Also,  in  any  state  not  accompanied  with  acute  pain, 
testinumy  to  an  immediate  cure  is  of  no  value  unless 
the  disease  be  of  an  external  character  and  actually 
disappears  before  the  eye  of  the  witness.  All  other 
cures  must  have  the  test  of  time;  hence  testimony 
given  on  the  spot,  at  the  grave  of  Father  Mathew,  or 
at  Lourdes,  or  at  the  camp-meeting  at  Old  Orchard,  or 
in  the  Tabernacle  of  Mr.  Simpson,  can  prove  merely 
that  then  and  there  the  witness  was  not  conscious  of 
pain  or  weakness,  or  of  the  symptoms  of  the  disease 
which  he  believed  he  had. 

The  foregoing  observations  relate  to  internal  dis- 
eases, but  it  is  by  no  means  easy  to  determine  what 
an  external  disease  is.  Tumors  are  often  mistaken 
for  cancers,  and  cancers  are  of  different  species — 
some  incurable  by  any  means  know^n  to  the  medical 
profession,  others  curable.  It  is  by  tliese  differences 
that  quack  cancer-doctors  thrive.  When  the  patient 
has  anything  resembling  cancer,  they  promptly  aj^ply 
some  salve,  and  if  the  patient  recovers  he  signs  a 
certificate  saying  that  he  was  cured  of  a  cancer  of  a 
most  teri'ible  character  which  would  have  been  fatal, 
in  three  months  or  six  weeks;  or  when  the  quack  hint- 
self  ivriies  the  certificate  for  the  imtient  to  sir/n,  which 
is  generally  the  case,  the  time  in  which  the  cancer 
would  have  proved  fatal  may  be  reduced  to  a  few 
days.  There  is  also  a  difference  in  tumors:  some  un- 
der no  circumstances  cause  death ;  others  are  liable 
to  become  as  fatal  as  a  malignant  pustule. 

In  supposed  injuries  to  the  joints,  the  exact  cause 
of  the  swelling  is  not  always  easily  determined  ;  and 
internal  abscesses  have  sometimes  been  montlis  in 


FAITH-HEALING  9 

reaching  a  condition  which  would  enable  the  most 
skilful  physicians  and  surgeons  to  locate  them,  or 
decide  positively  their  cause.  The  converse  of  this 
is  true,  that  swellings  have  been  supposed  to  be 
caused  by  abscesses,  incisions  made,  and  a  totally  dif- 
ferent and  comparatively  harmless  condition  found. 
Hence  it  is  by  no  means  certain  that  au  external  dis- 
ease is  properly  named.  The  patient  and  his  attend- 
ing physicians  may  be  in  serious  error  as  to  the  exact 
character  of  what  at  a  first  glance  it  might  be  sup- 
posed easy  to  identify. 

I  have  already  spoken  of  the  power  of  hysteria  to 
simulate  the  symptoms  of  any  internal  disease.  It 
may  be  new  to  some  that  it  can  produce  very  remark- 
able external  developments.  On  the  authority  of  Dr. 
Marvin  R.  Vincent,  of  this  city,  I  give  the  following. 
Says  Dr.  Vincent :  "  I  was  told  of  a  case  at  St.  Luke's 
Hospital  in  this  city:  a  woman  with  a  swelling  which 
was  pronounced  by  the  phj'sicians  to  be  an  ovarian 
tumor,  but  which  disappeared  on  the  administration 
of  ether,  and  was  discovered  to  be  merely  the  result 
of  hysteria." 

Consumption  is  a  subject  of  painful  interest  to 
almost  every  family  in  the  country.  The  peculiarity 
of  this  disease  is  that  it  advances  and  retreats.  In  the 
more  common  form  there  comes  a  time  when  what 
is  commonly  called  softening  of  the  tubercles  takes 
place.  The  patient  is  then  very  ill ;  hectic  fever  with 
the  succeeding  chill  occurs  every  day,  and  sometimes 
several  times  a  day ;  night-sweats,  profuse  expectora- 
tion, and  other  evidences  and  causes  of  debility  com- 
plicate the  situation,  and  the  end  is  thought  to  be  not 
far  off.  To  the  surprise  of  the  friends,  in  a  few  days 
he  greatly  improves.  Night-sweats  cease,  the  fever 
greatly  diminishes  or  disappears,  the  cough  lessens ; 
he  rejoices,  perhaps  resumes  his  business  and  re- 


10  FAITH-HEALING 

ceives  congratulations.  Whatever  he  had  been  tak- 
ing now  has  the  credit, — whether  what  his  physician 
prescribed  or  hj-pophosphites,  cod-liver  oil,  balsams, 
pectorals, expectorants,  ''compound  oxygen,"  benzoic; 
when  the  fact  is  that  the  tubercles  have  softened. 
As  foreign  bodies  they  produced  fever  and  other 
symptoms;  they  have  been  eliminated  by  coughing 
and  other  natural  processes.  Meanwhile  others  are 
forming  which  give  no  uneasiness  except  a  slight 
increase  of  shortness  of  breath.  When  the  second 
softening  period  comes  the  patient  sinks  lower  than 
before ;  new  remedies,  of  course,  are  tried,  radical 
change  of  diet  is  made,  but  if  death  does  not  end 
the  scene  similar  apparent  recovery  takes  place.  At 
either  of  these  stages  a  visit  to  a  grotto,  the  opera- 
tions of  "  faith-healers,"  or  a  magnetic  belt  or  pad, 
might  seem  to  produce  a  great  effect;  but  decline 
would  occur  at  the  periods  of  softening,  and  the 
patient  afterward  improve  or  sink  beyond  the  pos- 
sibility of  recovery,  if  none  of  these  things  had  been 
done. 

A  fact  concerning  consumption  is  known  to  medical 
men  and  stated  in  works  on  hygiene,  but  often  dis- 
believed. That  fact  is  that  pulmonary  consumption, 
genuine  and  unmistakable,  often  terminates  sponta- 
neously in  recovery,  and  frequently  yields  to  hygienic 
methods.  It  is  the  opinion  of  one  of  the  most  cele- 
brated physicians  of  Europe  that  for  every  two  cases 
of  death  from  consumption  there  is  one  case  that 
is  either  indefinitely  prolonged,  the  patient  living  to 
be  old,  or  entirely  recovering  and  dying  of  old  age, 
or  of  some  entirely  different  disease.  It  may  be  asked 
how  such  a  fact  as  this  can  be  established.  By  two 
modes  —  one  probable,  the  other  conclusive.  Tlu^ 
probable  is  where  the  j)atient  had  all  the  external 
symptoms   of  the  disease,   and   examination   of  the 


FAITH-HEALING  11 

lungs  by  competent  specialists  gave  results  which 
agreed  with  each  other  and  with  the  external  symi)- 
toms,  and  the  patient,  by  changing  from  a  sedentary 
to  an  outdoor  and  active  life,  entirely  recovers  and 
lives  for  many  years  without  return  of  the  symp- 
toms. Possibility  of  error  in  the  diagnosis  remains, 
but  where  all  these  conditions  exist  it  is  reduced  to 
a  minimum.  Such  cases  are  numerous.  Conclusive 
demonstration  is  found  in  post-mortem  examinations. 
The  late  Prof.  Austin  Flint  of  New  York,  author  of 
the  "  Practice  of  Medicine,"  was  also  the  author  of 
a  "Clinical  Report  on  Consumption,"  and  describes 
sixty-two  cases  in  which  an  arrest  of  the  disease  took 
place ;  in  seven  cases  it  occurred  without  any  special 
medical  or  hygienic  treatment,  and  in  four  of  the 
seven  he  declares  that  recovery  was  complete. 

Prof.  J.  Hughes  Bennett,  of  the  Royal  Infirmary  at 
Edinburgh,  in  a  lecture  says:  "Up  to  a  recent  period 
the  general  opinion  has  been  that  consumption  almost 
always  marches  on  to  a  fatal  termination,  and  that 
the  cases  of  those  known  to  be  restored  were  so  few 
as  to  be  merely  an  exception  to  the  general  rule.  Mor- 
bid anatomy  has  now,  I  think,  demonstrated  that 
tubercles  in  an  early  stage  degenerate  and  become 
abortive  with  extreme  frequency,  in  the  proportion  of 
one  third  to  one  half  of  all  the  incurables  who  die 
over  forty." 

Both  the  Edinburgh  "Journal  of  Medical  Science" 
and  the  London  "Lancet"  indorse  this  conclusion.  It 
is  equivalent  to  saying  that  from  one  third  to  one  lialf 
of  all  the  incurables  of  Scotland  who  die  over  forty 
have  had  incipient  consumption  and  got  well  of  it.  To 
meet  those  who  would  say  that  practically  consump- 
tion does  not  mean  the  existence  of  a  few  isolated 
tu])ercles,  but  an  advanced  stage  in  which  the  lungs 
are  in  a  state  of  ulceration,  and  the  powers  are  so 


12  FAITH-HEALING 

lowered  tliat  perfect  recovery  seldom  or  never  takes 
place,  Dr.  Bennett  proceeds  to  say  that  "Laennec, 
Andral,  Cruveilhier,  Kingston,  Pressat,  Boudet,  and 
many  others  have  published  cases  where  all  the  func- 
tional symptoms  of  the  disease,  even  in  its  most  ad- 
vanced state,  were  present,  and  yet  the  individual 
lived  many  years  and  ultimately  died  of  some  otlier 
disorder,  and  on  dissection  cicatrices  and  concretions 
have  been  found  in  the  lungs."  In  that  lecture  Prof. 
Bennett  exhibited  the  lungs  of  a  man  who  died  sud- 
denly of  congestion  of  the  brain,  aged  fifty  years. 
At  twenty-two  he  had  been  given  up  to  die  of  pul- 
monary consumption,  recovered,  lived  nearly  thirty 
years,  and  his  lungs  exhibited  most  indubitable  marks 
of  the  progress  and  termination  of  the  disease.  It  is 
easy  to  see  that  in  such  cases  of  recovery  there  came  a 
time  when  the  last  tubercles  softened;  at  such  a  time, 
any  powerful  mental  stimulus,  or  pleasing  change  in 
circumstances,  or  physical  stimulant  compelling  ex- 
ercise in  the  open  air,  might  be  the  element  which 
would  decide  the  question  whether  the  system  would 
rally  or  the  process  of  innutrition  and  decay  go  on. 

The  heating  of  the  minds  of  witnesses  hij  a  succession 
of  testimonies  must  not  he  forgotten. 

In  one  of  the  meetings  conducted  by  the  Kev.  A.  B. 
Simpson,  I  heard  witnesses  testify  to  the  healing 
power  of  God,  and  one  witness,  who  seemed  to  be  a 
pillar  and  was  specially  called  upon  by  Mr.  Simpson, 
testified,  stating  that  no  one  had  greater  reason  to 
praise  God  than  he,  "for  during  the  past  year  I  have 
several  times  been  miraculously  and  instantaneousli/ 
raised  from  the  jaws  of  death." 

In  Adelaide,  Australia,  at  a  meeting  held  in  the 
Workmen's  Hall,  which  was  crowded,  a  Mrs.  IMorgan 
testified  that  for  twenty  years  slu^  had  suffered  from 
heart-disease,  but  the  moment  "Mr.  Wood  laid  his 


FAITH-HEALING  13 

curative  hands  upon  me,  I  felt  a  quiet  within  and  was 
conscious  I  was  cured."  The  Rev.  W,  B.  Shorthouse 
tendered  some  wonderful  testimony;  he  described  his 
own  career  of  weakness  which  interfered  with  his 
ministeritd  duties,  but  now  he  was  completely  restored 
to  health.  Only  two  weeks  previous,  he  said,  some 
of  his  congregation  told  him  that  lie  looked  like  death. 
As  he  grew  warm  in  his  testimony,  he  described  sev- 
eral marvelous  cases,  one  of  a  man  brought  in  dead  who 
walked  away  without  assistance.  He  had  seen  hun- 
dreds "  touch  the  border  of  Mr.  Wood's  garment,"  and 
finally  concluded  by  saying  he  was  himself  '"a  living 
example  of  miracles  greater  than  those  performed  by  the 
disciples  of  Christ." 

After  seeing  this  in  '^Galignani's  Messenger"  in 
Paris,  I  ascertained  from  high  authority  in  Australia 
that  these  narratives  were  greatly  exaggerated,  and 
that  many  relapses  had  occurred. 

If  such  dangers  exist  in  connection  with  the  testi- 
mony of  witnesses  in  religious  meetings  to  physical 
facts,  it  may  be  thought  that  accounts  of  cases  care- 
fully written  by  honest  men  might  be  taken  without 
so  many  grains  of  allowance.  Having  inquired  into 
several  of  the  most  conspicuous  with  whose  subjects 
I  am  acquainted,  I  have  found  that  tlie  condition  of 
the  patient  prior  to  the  alleged  cure  has  been  magni- 
fied in  the  description.  This  has  not  always  been  so, 
but  in  most  of  the  celebrated  cases  which  I  have  per- 
sonally investigated. 

Many  important  facts  have  been  omitted,  sometimes 
because  the  witness  did  not  regard  them  as  of  conse- 
quence ;  in  other  cases,  it  must  be  confessed,  because 
the  luster  of  the  cure  would  be  dimmed  by  tlieir  re- 
cital. A  female  evangelist,  whose  astonishing  cure 
has  been  told  to  thousands,  never  mentions  a  surgical 
operation  from  which  her  friends  kuow  that  she  de- 
2 


14  EAITH-HEALING 

rived  great  benefit;  and  when  asked  why  she  did  not 
tell  of  that,  she  replied,  in  substance,  that  she  did  not 
wish  to  divert  attention  from  the  great  work  that  God 
had  really  wrought  in  her.  Often  the  account  of  the 
cure  has  been  exaggerated:  relapses  have  not  been 
published,  peculiar  sensations  still  felt,  and  resist- 
ed, have  been  omitted  from  the  description,  and  the 
mode  of  the  cure  has  been  restricted  to  one  act  or 
a  single  moment  of  time,  when  in  response  to  ques- 
tions it  appeared  that  it  was  weeks  or  months  before 
the  person  could  properly  be  said  to  be  well.  In  all 
such  cases  it  is  obvious  that  the  written  testimony  is 
of  little  value;  indeed,  it  is  seldom  that  a  published  ac- 
count in  books  supporting  marvels  of  this  kind  shows 
any  signs  of  being  written  by  a  person  who  took  the 
pains,  if  he  possessed  the  capacity,  to  investigate  the 
facts  accurately.  Frequent  quotation  of  such  ac- 
counts adds  nothing  to  their  credibility  or  value. 

But  after  all  deductions  have  been  made,  that  most 
extraordinary  recoveries  have  been  produced,  some  of 
them  instantaneously,  from  disease  in  some  cases  gen- 
erally considered  to  be  incurable  by  ordinary  treat- 
ment, in  others  known  to  be  curable  in  the  ordinary 
process  of  medicine  and  in  surgery  only  by  slow  de- 
grees, must  be  admitted. 

The  object  of  these  remarks  is  not  to  discredit  all 
testimony,  but  to  show  the  conditions  upon  which  its 
value  depends. 


EXPLANATION  OF  THE  FACTS 

Have  these  facts  a  common  cause  ?  To  solve  the 
problein  requires  us  to  ascertain  whether  the  effects 
are  the  same,  and  the  limitaticms  of  the  cause  or 
causes  are  the  same  ?    Do  recoveries  under  the  prayers 


FAITH-HEALING  15 

and  anointings  of  Dr.  Cullis  surpass  in  the  nature  of 
disease,  rapidity  of  cure,  and  proportion  of  recoveries 
to  the  whole  number  of  persons  prayed  for,  those  at- 
tested in  connection  with  Mrs.  Mix  or  those  of  the 
Rev.  A.  B.  Simpson!  Is  there  any  reason  to  believe 
that  Dr.  Newton  was  less  successful  in  the  number, 
characiter,  or  permanence  of  the  cures  attributed  to 
his  touch  and  voice  than  those  of  the  persons  before 
named?  Again,  is  there  any  testimony  that  they 
have  achieved  greater  success  than  "Betlishan"  in 
London?  Further,  can  these  be  proved  to  have 
done  any  more  than  Prince  Hohenlohe,  or  the  priest 
Gassner,  or  the  water  of  Lourdes?  The  subjects  of 
these  cures  will,  of  course,  chant  the  praises  of  the 
respective  schools;  but  does  the  impartial  student  of 
the  testimony  see  any  reason  to  distinguish  between 
them  as  to  the  number  or  character  of  the  effects? 
They  all  sometimes  cure  paralysis,  convulsions,  can- 
cers, tumors,  spinal  diseases,  those  peculiar  to  women, 
and  relieve  or  cure  chronic  cases  frequently,  es- 
pecially rheumatism,  sciatica,  neuralgia,  and  similar 
maladies.  They  succeed  in  some  forms  of  acute  dis- 
ease. "  Schools"  in  religion  and  medicine  are  prone 
to  magnify  their  own  achievements  and  depreciate 
those  of  others.  Nor  does  this  always  spring  from 
dishonesty ;  since  faith  often  prevents  that  scrutiny 
which  would  reveal  reasons  for  discounting  testimony 
or  appearances,  while  suspicion  would  lead  to  a  treat- 
ment of  the  reports  of  others  the  opposite  of  that 
accorded  to  their  own.  I  have  seen  subjects  of 
spiritualist  healers,  mesmeric  and  magnetic  healers, 
Roman  Catholic  and  Russo-Greek  miracles,  and  of  the 
most  conspicuous  "faith-healers"  and  "mind-curers" 
in  this  country,  and  find  no  reason  to  believe  that 
one  has  been  more  or  less  successful  than  otliers. 
A  very  important  question  is  whetlier  their  limita- 


16  FAITH-HEALING 

tions  are  the  same.  The  limitations  must  have  respect 
to  what  and  how  they  heal,  and  the  permanence  of  the 
cure.  It  will  be  noted  that  none  of  them  can  raise 
the  dead,  or  if  any  profess  ability  to  do  so,  or  by 
prayer  to  restore  to  life,  the  rest  will  unite  to  deny 
the  claim  of  the  others,  and  so  fully  support  our  view. 
Nor  can  they  give  sight  to  one  born  blind,  nor  healing 
to  one  born  deaf,  where  the  cause  of  deafness  is  the 
absence  of  any  of  the  organs  necessary  to  hearing. 
Instances  have  been  published  where  children  who 
had  lost  their  hearing  by  scarlet  fever  or  other  dis- 
ease, have  been  made  to  hear  by  the  manipulations  of 
spiritualists  or  by  the  prayers  of  Catholics  or  Pro- 
testants ;  but  whether  true  or  not,  no  case  which  can 
be  shown  to  be  one  of  congenital  deafness  or  blind- 
ness can  be  attested  where  sight  or  hearing  has  been 
made  possible  by  any  other  than  surgical  treatment. 
Further,  none  of  them  can  restore  a  limb  that  has 
been  cut  off,  or  an  eye  that  has  been  lost. 

In  mental  derangement  it  is  to  be  admitted  that  all 
have  been  successful  in  some  eases  of  a  functional 
character,  and  in  some  of  protracted  melancholia ;  but 
no  authentic  account  has  been  adduced  of  the  cure  of 
dementia  or  idiocy. 

Another  common  limitation  is  the  existence  of 
many  cases  of  the  same  disease  in  which  cures  are 
effected,  which  they  cannot  relieve  in  the  least.  Piti- 
ful instances  could  be  detailed  of  persons  who  have 
traveled  long  distances,  or  have  believed  in  the  water, 
or  the  power  of  the  dead  body  of  an  ecclesiastic,  or  of 
prayers  at  his  tomb,  or  of  the  mystic  touch  of  New- 
ton, or  of  Dr.  Cullis,  or  of  a  coterie  who  have  made 
their  headquarters  at  a  famous  resort  on  the  coast 
of  the  Atlantic,  and  have  died  bitterly  disappointed. 
Many  have  died  while  firmly  believing  that  God  would 
heal  them,  and  that  they  were  not  about  to  die.  Neither 


FAITH-HEALING  17 

Catholic,  Spiritualist,  nor  Protestant  has  any  preemi- 
nence with  regard  to  this  limitation. 

A  remarkable  attempt  to  Christianize  the  interior 
of  Africa  is  now  proceeding  under  the  auspices  of 
William  Taylor,  a  missionary  bishop.  One  of  the 
company  which  he  took  out  was  an  obstinate  believer 
in  the  power  of  faith  to  draw  from  God  such  help  as 
to  enable  him  to  dispense  with  medicine.  This  young 
man  fanatically  refused  to  take  any  medicine,  and 
died  a  martyr  to  superstition  which  he  mistook  for 
faith.  The  last  entry  in  his  diary  was:  "I  have  n't 
the  fever,  but  a  weak  feeling;  but  I  take  the  promise 
'  He  giveth  power  to  the  faint,'  and  I  do  receive  the 
fact."  The  testimony  of  his  medical  adviser  to  his 
last  conversation  is :  "  Charlie,  your  temperature  is 
105,  and  pulse  130;  normal  is  98;  the  dividing  line 
between  life  and  death  is  108.  You  are  now  dying. 
It  is  only  a  question  of  time ;  and  if  you  do  not  take 
something  to  break  up  tliis  fever,  it  will  surely  kill 
you."  The  reply  of  the  misguided  youth  was,  ''Well, 
then,  I '11  die;  for  I  won't  take  any  medicine."  Bishop 
Taylor  himself  does  not  hold  the  view  which,  con- 
sistently carried  out,  practically  caused  the  suicide 
of  this  young  man.  Almost  all  in  the  party  had 
the  African  fever,  and  by  the  aid  of  medical  skill 
recovered. 

The  limitations  common  to  all  are  further  illustnited 
by  the  following  case,  an  account  of  which  I  received 
in  writing  from  the  eminent  physician  who  had  it  in 
charge  until  the  fatal  termination.  A  minister  of  the 
gospel  and  his  wife,  widely  known  both  in  Europe 
and  America,  had  a  daughter-in-Liw  to  whom  they 
were  greatly  attached.  Her  health  began  to  fail,  and 
all  that  medical  treatmcTit  could  do  was  done  without 
avail.  The  diagnosis  was  one  of  ovarian  tumor,  and 
little  hope  was  offered  either  to  the  invalid  or  to  her 


18  FAITH-HEALING 

friends.  Finally  she  was  made  a  subject  of  prayer 
by  the  minister  and  his  wife,  who  earnestly  besought 
God  to  heal  her.  They  believed  that  they  received 
an  evidence  in  answer  to  their  prayers  that  she 
would  be  cured;  but  being  about  to  make  a  long 
evangelizing  tour  throughout  the  world,  they  prayed 
that  if  she  was  to  get  well,  they  might  receive  a 
certain  sign  which  they  suggested  in  praj-er;  and  the 
event  was  in  harmony  with  the  suggestion.  Thor- 
oughly persuaded,  they  made  a  farewell  visit  and 
had  a  season  of  prayer  in  which  both  they  and  she  re- 
ceived "  the  assurance  "  that  the  disease  was  checked 
and  that  she  would  finally  recover.  Previous  to  their 
embarking  on  the  voyage,  at  a  meeting  which  was 
attended  by  thousands,  her  case  was  spoken  of  and 
prayers  were  offered  for  her  recovery ;  and  this  hap- 
pened on  several  occasions  during  the  long  tour  fol- 
lowing. But  the  disease  progressed  and  ended  in 
death,  according  to  the  prognosis  given  by  the  phy- 
sician, who  is  himself  a  Christian.  These  facts  show 
the  deceptive  character  of  the  assurances  which  many 
claim  to  receive  on  matters  of  fact  of  this  kind. 

Another  element  of  limitation  has  respect  to  re- 
lapses. In  many  cases  those  who  suppose  that  they 
have  been  cured  relapse  and  die  of  the  malady  of 
which  they  testified  they  had  been  cured.  This  is 
true  of  the  results  of  medical  practice,  and  is  a  conse- 
quence of  the  law  of  human  mortality  and  general 
limitations  of  human  knowledge;  but  it  is  specially 
true  of  quack  medicines  involving  anodynes,  alcoliol, 
or  other  stimulants  which  disguise  symptoms,  develop 
latent  energy,  or  divert  attention. 

Lord  Gardenstone,  himself  a  valetudinarian,  spent 
a  great  deal  of  time  "inquiring  for  those  ))ersons  wlio 
had  actually  attested  marvelous  cures,  and  found  that 
more  than  two  thirds  of  the  number  died  very  shortly 


FAITH-HEALENG  19 

after  they  had  been  cured."  That  the  proportion  of 
relapses  among  persons  who  have  attested  cures  under 
the  Spiritualists,  Magnetizers,  Kouian  Catholics,  and 
Protestants  is  as  gi'eat  as  this,  I  do  not  aflRrni ;  but  I 
have  no  doubt  that  it  is  greater  than  among  those 
who  have  supposed  themselves  to  be  cured  either 
by  hygienic  means  without  medicine,  or  under  the 
best  attainable  medical  treatment,  which  always  at^ 
tends  to  hygiene  in  proportion  to  the  intellectual  and 
moral  elevation  of  the  physician  above  the  sphere  of 
quackery. 

Some  years  since  a  member  of  the  Christian 
church  in  the  city  of  Boston  solemnly  testified  that 
he  had  been  entirely  cured  of  pulmonary  consum])- 
tion  through  the  anointing  and  prayer  of  Dr.  CuUis. 
In  less  than  six  months  afterward  he  died  of  con- 
sumption. "Zion's  Herald,"  a  paper  published  in  the 
same  city,  in  an  editorial  upon  the  results  of  a  faith- 
healing  convention  at  Old  Orchard,  says:  "We  are 
not  surprised  to  learn  that  some  who  esteemed  them- 
selves healed  are  suffering  again  from  their  old  in- 
firmities, in  some  instances  more  severely  than  before." 
Such  relapses  are  exceedingly  numerous,  but  they 
are  not  published ;  the  jubilant  testimonies  are  tele- 
graphed throughout  the  land  and  dilated  upon  in 
books;  the  subsequent  relapses  are  not  spoken  of 
in  religious  meetings  nor  published  anywhere,  but  a 
little  pains  enabled  me  in  a  single  year  to  collect  a 
large  number. 

If  we  are  not  able  to  conclude  a  common  cause 
from  these  concurrences  in  effects,  limitations,  and 
relapses,  neither  the  deductive  nor  the  inductive  pro- 
cess is  of  value,  and  all  modes  of  acquiring  knowledge 
or  tracing  causes  would  seem  to  be  useless. 

But  what  is  that  common  cause?  Can  these  effects 
be  proved  to  be  natural  by  constructing  a  formula  by 


20  FAITH-HEALING 

which  they  can  be  produced  ?  If  there  be  phenomena 
in  which  the  results  cannot  be  traced  to  their  sources, 
can  they  be  shown  to  be  similar  to  other  effects  whose 
causes  can  be  thus  traced  ? 

In  investigating  phenomena,  some  of  which  it  is 
claimed  arc  connected  with  religion  and  others  with 
occult  forces,  it  is  necessary  to  proceed  without  regard 
to  the  question  of  religion,  in  determining  whether  the 
facts  can  be  accounted  for  upon  natural  principles, 
and  paralleled  by  the  application  thereof. 

In  searching  for  analogies  I  avail  myself  of  au- 
thentic cases  found  in  John  Hunter,  in  Dr.  Tuke's 
work  previously  referred  to,  in  the  "Mental  Physi- 
ology'' of  Dr.  Carpenter,  and  in  the  psychological 
researches  of  Sir  Benjamin  Brodie  and  Sir  Henry 
Holland ;  selecting,  however,  only  such  facts  as  have 
been  paralleled  under  my  own  observation. 

First.  Cases  where  the  effect  is  unquestionably 
produced  by  a  natural  mental  cause. 

{a)  The  charming  away  of  warts  is  well  estabhshed. 
Dr.  Tuke  says  of  them:  "They  are  so  apparent  that 
there  cannot  be  much  room  for  mistake  as  to  whether 
they  have  or  have  not  disappeared,  and  in  some  in- 
stances within  my  own  knowledge  their  disappear- 
ance was  in  such  close  connection  with  the  psychical 
treatment  adopted,  that  I  could  hardly  suppose  the 
cure  was  only  post  hoc.  In  one  case,  a  relative  of  mine 
had  a  troublesome  wart  on  the  hand,  for  which  I  made 
use  of  the  usual  local  remedies,  but  without  effect. 
After  they  were  discontinued,  it  remained  in  statu  quo 
for  some  time,  when  a  gentleman  'charmed'  it  away 
in  a  few  days."  He  then  tells  of  a  case  the  particu- 
lars of  which  he  received  of  a  surgeon.  His  daughter 
had  about  a  dozen  warts  on  her  hands,  and  they  had 
been  there  eighteen  months ;  her  father  liad  applied 
caustic  and  other  remedies  without  success.     A  gen- 


FAITH-HEALING  21 

tlemen  called,  noticed  her  warts,  and  asked  how  many 
she  had.  She  said  she  did  not  know,  but  thought 
about  a  dozen.  "Count  them,  will  you?"  said  he, 
and  solemnly  took  down  her  counting,  remarking, 
"  You  will  not  be  troubled  with  your  warts  after  next 
Sunday."  Dr.  Tuke  adds,  "It  is  a  fact  that  by  the 
day  named  the  warts  had  disappeared  and  did  not 
return."  Francis  Bacon  had  a  similar  experience,  in- 
cluding the  removal  of  a  wart  which  had  been  with 
him  from  childhood,  on  which  he  says :  "  At  the  rest 
I  did  little  marvel,  because  they  came  in  a  short  time, 
and  might  go  away  in  a  short  time  again;  but  the 
going  away  of  that  which  had  stayed  so  long  doth 
yet  stick  with  me." 

(6)  Blood-diseases,  such  as  scurvy,  have  been  cured 
in  the  same  way.  At  the  siege  of  Breda  in  1G25, 
scurvy  prevailed  to  such  an  extent  that  the  Prince  of 
Orange  was  about  to  capitulate.  The  following  ex- 
periment was  resorted  to;  "Three  small  phials  of 
medicine  were  given  to  each  physician,  not  enough 
for  recovery  of  two  patients.  It  was  publicly  given 
out  that  three  or  four  drops  were  sufficient  to  impart 
a  healing  virtue  to  a  gallon  of  liquor."  Dr.  Frederic 
Van  der  Mye,  who  was  present  and  one  of  the  physi- 
cians, says:  "The  effect  of  the  delusion  was  really  as- 
tonishing; for  many  quickly  and  perfectly  recovered. 
Such  as  had  not  moved  their  limbs  for  a  month  before 
were  seen  walking  the  streets,  sound,  upright,  and  in 
perfect  health."  Dr.  Van  der  Mye  says  that  before 
this  happy  experiment  was  tried  they  were  in  a  con- 
dition of  absolute  despair,  and  the  scurvy  and  the 
despair  had  produced  "fluxes,  dropsies,  and  every 
species  of  distress,  attended  with  a  great  mortality." 

(c)  Van  Swieten  and  Smollett  speak  of  consump- 
tive patients  recovering  health  from  falling  into  cold 
water.     Dr.  Tuke  says  that  Dr.  Rush  refers  to  these 


22  FAITH-HEALING 

cases,  and  "inclines  to  think  that  fright  and  the  con- 
sequent exertion  produced  a  beneficial  result." 

(d)  Abernethy  gives  a  case  of  a  woman  who  was 
permanently  cured  of  dropsy  by  being  frightened  by 
a  bull,  relief  coming  through  the  kidneys. 

(e)  Of  the  famous  metallic  tractors  of  Dr.  Perkins, 
which  produced  most  extraordinary  results,  attracting 
the  attention  of  the  medical  world,  the  effects  of  the 
use  of  the  tractors  being  attributed  to  galvanism,  and 
of  the  production  of  the  same  effects  by  two  wooden 
tractors  of  nearly  the  same  shape,  and  painted  so  as 
to  resemble  them  in  color,  it  is  hardly  necessary  to 
say  anything.  But  wooden  and  metallic  were  equally 
efficient,  and  cured  cases  of  chronic  rheumatism  in 
the  ankle,  knee,  wrist,  and  hip,  where  the  joints  were 
swollen  and  the  patient  had  been  ill  for  a  long  time ; 
and  even  a  case  of  lockjaw  of  three  or  four  days' 
standing  was  cured  in  fifty  minutes,  when  the  phy- 
sicians had  lost  all  hope. 

(/)  I  have  frequently  tested  this  principle.  The 
application  of  a  silver  dollar  wrapped  in  silk  to  ulcer- 
ated teeth,  where  the  patient  had  been  suffering  for 
many  hours,  and  in  some  instances  for  days,  relieved 
the  pain,  the  patient  supposing  that  it  was  an  infalli- 
ble remedy.  After  I  had  explained  that  the  effect 
was  wholly  mental,  the  magic  power  of  the  remedy 
was  gone. 

{g)  In  1867  a  well-known  public  singer  was  taken 
dangerousl}'  ill  on  the  evening  of  his  concert,  having 
great  nausea  and  intense  headache;  two  applications 
of  the  silver  dollar  to  his  forehead  entirely  relieved 
him,  and  he  pei*formed  a  full  program  with  his  usual 
energy.  Anything  else  would  have  been  as  effectual 
as  the  dollar,  which  was  used  merely  because  it  was 
at  hand. 

[h)    The    following    case    is    taken   from   a  pam- 


FAITH-HEALING  23 

phlet  published  by  me  in  1875,  entitled  "Supposed 
Miracles." 

In  company  with  the  Rev.  J.  B.  Faulks  I  called  at 
a  place  near  Englewood,  N.  J,,  to  procure  a  boat. 
There  was  a  delay  of  half  an  hour,  and  the  day  being 
chilly,  we  repaired  to  a  house  near  by  and  there  saw 
a  most  pitiable  spectacle.  The  mother  of  the  family 
was  suffering  from  inflammatory  rheumatism  in  its 
worst  form.  She  was  terribly  swollen,  could  not 
move,  nor  bear  to  be  touched.  I  said  to  Mr.  Faulks, 
^'You  shall  now  have  an  illustration  of  the  truth  of 
the  theory  you  have  so  often  heard  me  advance." 
He  mildly  demurred,  and  intimated  that  he  did  not 
wish  to  be  mixed  up  in  anything  of  the  kind.  But, 
after  making  various  remarks  solely  to  inspire  con- 
fidence and  expectation,  I  called  for  a  pair  of  knit- 
ting-needles. After  some  delay,  improved  to  increase 
confidence  and  surround  the  proceedings  with  mys- 
tery, operations  were  begun.  One  of  the  hands  of 
the  patient  was  so  swollen  that  the  fingers  were  very 
nearly  as  large  as  the  wrist  of  an  ordinary  child 
three  years  of  age.  In  fact,  almost  all  the  space 
naturally  between  the  fingers  was  occupied,  and  the 
fist  was  clinched.  It  was  plain  that  to  open  them 
voluntarily  was  impossible,  and  to  move  them  in- 
tensely painful.  The  daughter  informed  us  that  the 
hand  had  not  been  opened  for  several  weeks.  When 
all  was  ready  I  held  the  needle  about  two  inches 
from  the  end  of  the  woman's  fingers,  just  above 
the  clinched  hand,  and  said,  "Now,  Madam,  do  not 
think  of  your  fingers,  and  above  all  do  not  try  to 
move  them,  but  fix  your  eyes  on  the  ends  of  these 
needles."  She  did  so,  and  to  her  own  wonder  and 
that  of  her  daughter  the  fingers  straightened  out  and 
became  flexible  without  the  least  pain.  I  then  moved 
the  needles  about,  over  the  hand,  and  she  declared 


24  FAITH-HEALING 

that  all  pain  left  her  hand  except  in  one  spot  about 
half  an  inch  in  diameter. 

(i)  The  efficacy  of  the  touch  of  the  king  to  cure 
scrofula  is  authenticated  beyond  question.     Charles 

II.  touched  nearly  100,000  persons;  James  in  one  of 
liis  journeys  touched  800  persons  in  Chester  Cathe- 
dral.    Macaulay's  History  shows  how,  when  William 

III.  refused  to  exercise  this  power,  it  brought  upon 
him  "an  avalanche  of  the  tears  and  cries  of  parents 
of  the  children  who  were  suffering  from  scrofula. 
Bigots  lifted  up  their  hands  and  eyes  in  horror  at  his 
impiety."  His  opponents  insinuated  that  he  dared 
not  try  a  power  which  belonged  only  to  legitimate 
sovereigns;  but  this  sarcasm  was  without  basis,  as  an 
old  author  says:  "The  curing  of  the  king-'s  evil  by  the 
touch  of  the  king  does  much  puzzle  our  philosophers, 
for  whether  our  Mugs  were  of  the  house  of  York  or  Lan- 
caster, it  did  cure  for  the  most  part."  This  reminds 
the  student  of  ecclesiastical  history  of  the  consterna- 
tion of  the  Jesuits  when  the  extraordinary  "miracle" 
was  wrought  upon  the  niece  of  the  famous  Blaise 
Pascal. 

(J)  The  daughter  of  an  eminent  clergyman  in  this 
city  had  been  sick  for  a  long  time,  entirely  unable  to 
move  and  suffering  intense  pain.  One  of  the  most 
famous  surgeons  of  New  York  declared,  after  careful 
examination,  that  she  had  diseases  of  the  breast-bone 
and  ribs  which  would  require  incisions  of  so  severe 
a  character  as  to  be  horrible  to  contemplate.  Three 
times  the  surgeon  came  with  his  instruments  to  per- 
form the  operation,  but  the  parents  could  not  bring 
themselves  to  consent  to  it,  and  it  was  postponed. 
At  last  the  late  Dr.  Krackowitzer  was  called  in  ;  he 
solemnly  and  very  thoroughly  examined  her  from 
head  to  foot,  taking  a  long  time,  and  at  last  suddenly 
exclaimed,  "  Get  out  of  bed,  put  on  your  clothes,  and 


FAITH-HEALING  25 

go  down-stairs  to  meet  your  mother  in  the  parlor ! " 
The  young  lady  automatically  arose  and  obeyed  him. 
The  next  day  she  took  a  walk  with  her  mother,  and 
soon  entirely  recovered.  Dr.  Krackowitzer  stated 
that  he  recognized  in  her  an  obstinate  ease  of  hyste- 
ria, which  needed  the  stimulus  of  sudden  command 
from  a  stronger  will  than  her  own.  I  received  this 
narrative  from  the  young  lady's  father ;  she  has 
never  had  a  relapse,  and  is  still  living  in  excellent 
health.  Had  she  been  cured  by  a  faith-healer  believed 
in  by  the  family,  the  mistaken  diagnosis  of  the  emi- 
nent surgeon  would  have  been  heralded  far  and  wide, 
and  the  cure  considered  a  miracle. 

{k)  The  cure  of  obstinate  constipation  when  all 
medicine  had  lost  its  effect,  by  a  medical  man  who 
required  the  patient  to  uncover  the  abdomen  and 
direct  his  thoughts  entirely  to  the  sensations  experi- 
enced in  that  region,  is  vouched  for  by  Dr.  Carpenter. 

(7)  The  cure  of  a  case  of  paralysis  by  Sir  Hum- 
phrey Davy  is  a  scientific  fact  of  the  first  importance. 
He  placed  a  thermometer  under  the  tongue  of  the 
patient  simply  to  ascertain  the  temperature ;  the  pa- 
tient at  once  claimed  to  experience  relief,  so  the  same 
treatment  was  continued  for  two  weeks,  and  by  that 
time  the  patient  was  well.  In  this  case  the  imagina- 
tion of  the  patient  was  not  assisted  by  an  application 
to  the  affected  part. 

In  all  the  foregoing  cases  the  cure  or  relief  was  a 
natural  result  of  mental  or  emotional  states.  As  long 
ago  as  the  time  of  John  Hunter,  it  was  established 
by  a  variety  of  experiments  and  by  his  own  experi- 
ence that  the  concentration  of  attention  upon  any 
part  of  the  human  system  affects  first  the  sensations, 
next  produces  a  change  in  the  circulation,  then  a 
modification  of  the  nutrition,  and  finally  an  altei-a- 
tion  in  structure. 
3 


26  FAITH-HEALING 

Second.  Cases  in  which  the  operation  of  occult 
causes  is  claimed.  These  will  be  treated  here  only  so 
far  as  they  reflect  light  upon  *^ faith-cures." 

(a)  That  trances  and  healings  occui*red  under  the 
performances  of  Mesmer  is  as  well  established  as  any 
fact  depending  upon  testimony.  French  scientists 
who  investigated  the  subject  divided  into  two  hostile 
parties  upon  the  explanation,  and  in  some  cases  as  to 
whether  they  were  genuine  or  fraudulent;  but  they 
agreed  as  to  the  genuineness  of  many  of  the  cures. 
The  Government  established  a  commission  of  physi- 
cians and  members  of  the  Academy  of  Sciences  to 
investigate  the  phenomena.  Benjamin  Franklin,  who 
was  at  that  time  in  Paris  in  the  interest  of  the  United 
States,  and  the  distinguished  J.  S.  Bailly  were  of  that 
commission,  with  Lavoisier,  Darcet,  and  others.  They 
presented  an  elaborate  report,  specifically  admitting 
many  of  the  alleged  facts,  but  denying  the  necessity 
of  assuming  "  animal  magnetism."  Forty  years  after- 
ward,—  namely,  on  October  11, 1825, —  the  Royal  Acad- 
emy of  Medicine  in  Paris  was  addressed  by  a  noted 
physician,  Foissac,  who  called  its  attention  to  the  im- 
portance of  a  new  inquiry.  After  a  long  debate  the 
Academy  appointed  a  committee  to  inquire  whether  it 
would  or  would  not  become  the  Academy  to  investi- 
gate "animal  magnetism."  The  report  was  favorable, 
and  was  debated  at  great  length ;  it  was  finally  de- 
cided to  investigate,  and  the  Academy,  by  a  majority 
of  ten  in  a  total  vote  of  sixty,  appointed  a  permanent 
committee  on  the  subject.  This  committee  reaffirmed 
the  facts,  and  did  not  divide  as  in  the  former  in- 
stance, two  merely  decliniug  to  sign  the  report  be- 
cause not  present  at  the  experiments.  The  subject 
was  reopened  in  1837,  and  further  reports  and  dis- 
cussions of  great  importance  resulted.  These  are 
referred  to  here  simply  to  show  the  amount  of  testi- 


FAITH-HEALING  27 

mony  to  certain  facts  of  trance  conditions,  so  called, 
and  cures. 

The  following  is  given  on  the  authority  of  Dr. 
Tuke,  who  says,  '*  It  is  afforded  by  a  highly  respecta- 
ble surgeon  and  attributed  by  him  to  mesmerism." 
It  is  the  case  of  Edward  Wine,  aged  seventy-five,  who 
had  been  paralyzed  two  years  in  one  arm  and  leg. 
The  left  arm  was  spasmodically  fixed  to  the  chest,  the 
fingers  drawn  toward  the  palm  of  the  hand  and 
wasted,  quite  incapable  of  holding  anything ;  walked 
with  a  crutch,  drawing  the  left  leg  after  him.  After 
several  mesmerizing  operations  the  surgeon  put  "  a 
nosegay  in  his  coat  and  posted  him  off  to  church,  and 
he  tells  me  he  walked  like  a  gentleman  down  the  aisle, 
carrying  his  stick  in  his  lame  arm." 

The  noted  Mr.  Braid  in  many  authentic  instances 
restored  lost  sight,  greatly  improved  the  condition  of 
the  paralyzed,  in  some  instances  entirely  curing  the 
patient,  and  had  very  little  difficulty  with  most  cases 
of  rheumatism.  Dr.  W.  B.  Carpenter  investigated 
many  of  these  cases. 

But  what  is  mesmerism,  magnetism,  electro-biology, 
etc.  ?  It  is  a  subjective  condition.  The  notion  that 
a  magnetic  fluid  passes  from  the  body,  or  that  passes 
are  of  utility  in  producing  the  state  except  as  they 
act  upon  the  mind  of  the  candidate,  was  exploded  long 
since;  and  both  in  Europe  and  America  the  discovery 
of  the  real  principle  was  accidental  and  made  by  a 
number  of  persons.  About  fifty  years  ago  an  itin- 
erant lecturer  on  these  phenomena,  who  had  great 
success  in  experiments,  used  an  old-fashioned  cylinder 
electrical  machine.  The  " subjects"  took  hold  of  the 
wire.  He  gave  them  a  slight  electrical  shock,  and 
"  concentrated  his  will  upon  them."  Those  that  were 
susceptible  passed  into  the  trance  state.  On  a  certain 
occasion,  when  trying  the  experiment  with   several 


28  FAITH-HEALING 

gentlemen  in  a  private  room,  the  operator  was  called 
out  just  as  the  caudidates  had  taken  hold  of  the  wire. 
He  remained  twenty  minutes,  not  supposing  that  the 
experiment  was  being  tried;  on  his  return,  to  his 
great  surprise,  he  found  three  of  them  as  much  ''mag- 
netized," ''  mesmerized,"  electro-biologized,"  ''  hypno- 
tized," or  "psycodunamized"  as  any  he  had  ever  seen. 
This  showed  that  the  entire  effect  was  caused  by  their 
own  mental  states.  Further  experiments  made  it 
clear  that  neither  the  will  of  the  operator,  nor  any 
*'■  magnetism  "  from  his  body,  nor  electricity',  nor  the 
influence  of  the  candidates  upon  each  other  had  any- 
thing to  do  with  the  result.  Mesmer  himself  used 
magnets  until  he  fell  in  with  the  Roman  Catholic 
priest  Gassner,  before  mentioned,  when,  perceiving 
that  he  used  none,  he  renounced  magnets,  afterward 
depending  solely  on  manipulation. 

Twenty-three  years  ago  I  was  present  at  a  private 
meeting  of  twenty-five  ladies  and  gentlemen,  at  the 
residence  of  Mr.  Henry  R.  Towne,  president  of  the 
Yale  and  Towne  Manufacturing  Company.  On  two 
successive  evenings  these  phenomena  had  been  ex- 
plained. It  had  been  maintained  that  all  the  results 
were  subjective,  arising  from  the  concentrated  atten- 
tion, expectancy,  and  reverence  of  the  persons  try- 
ing the  experiment.  At  the  close  of  the  two  lectures, 
after  divesting  the  subject  of  mystery,  and,  appa- 
rently, rendering  it  impossible  to  produce  reverence 
or  confidence,  I  was  urged  to  test  the  theory  by  ex- 
periment. Accordingly  eight  gentlemen  and  ladies 
were  requested  to  rise,  stand  without  personal  con- 
tact with  one  another  or  myself,  close  their  eyes,  and 
clasp  their  hands.  In  a  few  minutes  five  passed  more 
or  less  fully  into  the  trance  state,  two  becoming  un- 
conscious of  their  surroundings  and  the  otliers  exliib- 
iting  peculiar  phenomena.     One  thus  affected  was  a 


FAITH-HEALING  29 

prominent  lawyer  of  the  city  of  New  York,  another 
a  recent  graduate  of  the  Sheflfield  Scieutiiic  School, 
and  the  third  the  bookkeeper  in  a  large  establish- 
ment. Nothing  was  done  by  the  experimenter  during 
the  interval  after  these  persons  closed  their  eyes  and 
clasped  their  hands,  save  to  wait  in  silence  and  re- 
quire silence  from  spectators.  Among  those  who  wit- 
nessed and  critically  studied  these  phenomena  with 
the  writer  were  Professor  Fuertes,  Dean  of  the  De- 
partment of  Civil  Engineering  in  Cornell  University, 
whose  letter,  herewith  printed,^  explains  itself;  Mr. 
Henry  K.  Towne,  before  mentioned;   the  Rev.  Dr. 

I  Dr.  J.  M.  BucKLET.  Dear  Sir:  My  recollection  of  tbo 
"8»5aiK'e"  referred  to  iu  your  letter  of  the  25tli  ult.  is  not  as 
distinct  iu  some  points  as  in  others  you  do  not  mention.  Tho 
study  of  psychology  is  so  important  that  it  is  necessary  to  bo 
exact  beyond  measure  in  order  not  to  mislead.  An  immense 
amount  of  rubbish  has  been  piled  upon  slender  foundations  in 
the  study  of  psycho-genesis,  and  no  progress  can  be  made  so 
long  as  people  assent  easily  to  become  witnesses  with  exter- 
nal aid  to  recollect  facts  which  happened  long  ago.  I  am  very 
positive  as  to  the  truth  of  the  following  facts  :  I  belonged  to  a 
literary  club,  composed  of  the  most  cultivated  people  residing 
in  Stamford  in  1864-71.  At  one  of  our  meetings,  I  was  present 
when  you  performed  some  experiments  upon  ten  or  fifteen  of  its 
members  by  asking  them  to  stand  in  a  circle,  with  closed  eyes, 
and  holding  their  hands  before  their  faces  as  in  the  conven- 
tional attitude  for  praying;  the  gas  was  partly  turned  down. 
Some  of  the  members  of  this  group  laughed,  and  you  perempto- 
rily excluded  them  from  the  circle,  as  previously  agreed  ui)on.  A 
short  time  afterward  one  of  my  neighbors  began  to  breathe  liard, 
and  he  was  followed  by  several  others,  who  gave  indications, 
plainly  visible,  that  something  unusual  was  happening  to  lliem. 

If  human  testimony  is  to  be  depended  upon  at  all,  I  am  sure 
that  the  social  position  of  the  persons  so  affected,  their  high 
culture,  refinement,  and  surroundings,  entitled  their  actions  to 
be  believed,  as  representing  truthfully  the  conditions  causing 
their  strange  behavior,  even  if  tho  following  circumstaiiccs  did 
not  reinforce  the  necessity  of  believing  their  candid  sincerity  in 
this  question.    One  of  the  first  "subjects"  was  a  young  lady. 


30  FAITH-HEALING 

A.  S.  Twombly,  pastor  of  the  Winthrop  Congrega- 
tional Church  of  Charlestown,  Mass. ;  and  J.  B.  Wil- 
liams, Esquire,  of  the  city  of  New  York. 

On  the  14th  of  April,  1868,  in  the  City  Hall  of  Dover, 
New  Hampshire,  in  the  presence  of  a  thousand  per- 
sons, the  same  principles  were  set  forth.  At  the  close 
Dr.  L.  G.  Hill,  of  that  city,  long  President  of  the  State 
Medical  Society,  called  for  the  proof  of  the  theory 
that  the  effects  attributed  to  animal  magnetism  were 
the  result  of  subjective  mental  condition.  The  result, 
as  described  in  the  "  Dover  Gazette  "  of  Friday,  April 
17,  1868,  by  the  editor,  who  refers  to  himself  in  the 
account,  is  as  follows :  "  Ten  or  twelve  gentlemen  at 
his  [the  lecturer's]  request  took  the  platform  and  were 
requested  to  shut  their  eyes,  close  their  hands,  and 
remain  quiet.  They  did  so.  One  complete  trance 
medium  and  two  partial  ones  at  once  developed. 

who  was  made  to  believe  that  she  was  writing  a  letter  to  a 
friend,  and  immediately  began  to  simulate  the  act  of  writing ; 
but  other  subjects  proving  to  be  most  amusingly  affected,  she 
was,  unfortunately,  forgotten,  and  allowed  to  go  on  "writing" 
for  nearly  three  hours  consecutively,  earnestly  engaged  at  her 
task,  oblivious  of  her  surroundings,  neither  laughing,  nor  ap- 
parently caring  for  what  was  going  on.  Tlie  effect  of  holding 
her  hand  in  mid-air  for  so  long  a  time,  and  moving  her  fingers 
all  the  time,  is  a  feat  of  endurance  of  which  she  was  not  physi- 
cally able,  if  conscious.  Her  arm  and  shoulder  were  swollen 
and  lame  for  several  days  after  this  performance.  [Owing  to  the 
crowded  condition  of  the  room,  I  did  not  observe  this  till  the  inter- 
view terminated.  Author.]  Another  subject  was  a  young  lady 
who  had  recently  lost  a  friend.  Tlie  mother  of  her  dead  friend 
had  also  recently  arrived  from  Europe  and  was  present  in  the 
room ;  and  after  the  young  lady  affected  had  expressed  her 
ability  to  go  to  heaven  and  described  what  she  saw  there,  she 
paused  a  moment,  as  if  surprised  and  filled  with  terror;  then, 
uttering  a  piercing  scream,  moved  forward  as  if  to  embrace  the 
dead  friend,  whose  name  she  mentioned,  in  a  manner  so  tragic 
and  out  of  kee])ing  with  her  usual  lovely  and  baslifnl  demeanor 
that  the  impression  produced  on  the  company  was  quite  pro- 


FAITH-HEALING  31 

Three  of  the  other  gentlemen,  among  whom  was  the 
writer  of  this  article,  felt  the  trance  force  in  a  slight 
degree.  The  completely  developed  medium  was  in  the 
most  perfect  trance ;  could  be  convinced  of  anything 
at  once ;  was  clairvoyant,  ecstatic,  mesmeric,  somnam- 
bulic, and  in  fact  took  any  form  of  ideomania  at  will. 
We  have  been  at  perhaps  over  a  hundred  stances  of 
mesmeric,  biologic,  and  so-called  spiritual  subjects  or 
mediums,  but  have  never  seen  so  perfect  a  subject  so 
soon  developed  and  upon  so  pure  a  principle."  These 
cases  are  adduced  to  show  the  effect  of  the  mind  upon 
the  body,  and  of  the  mind  upon  its  own  faculties. 
The  young  man  particularly  mentioned  by  the  "  Ga- 
zette "  could  have  had  every  tooth  extracted,  or  even 
a  limb  amputated,  without  consciousness.  After  he 
had  resumed  his  normal  state,  such  was  his  suscepti- 
bility that  a  word  would  have  sent  him  back  to  sleep. 

found.  This  behavior,  both  brutal  and  coarse,  and  cruel  to  the 
mother  of  the  dead  young  girl,  is,  I  am  very  sure,  incompatible 

with  any  theory  of  Miss being  in  her  usual  senses.     In  fact 

she  was  made  ill  by  this  circumstance,  and  conceived  the  great- 
est aversion  toward  you.  Her  friend  had  been  buried  but  a  few 
days.  [These  facts  were  unknown  to  me,  and  as  soon  as  possi- 
ble her  attention  was  diverted  from  them.  As  the  whole  was 
imaginary,  this  was  easily  done.    Author.] 

One  of  the  most  amusing  incidents  was  the  honest  conviction 
with  which  a  prominent  lawyer  believed  himself  sitting  on  a 
log  looking  into  the  muddy  bottom  of  a  stream  of  water.  An- 
other, that  of  a  young  man  whose  trembling  legs  were  made  to 
bend  under  the  enormous  weight  of  an  envelope  placed  over  liis 
head,  when  told  it  weighed  a  ton.  The  above  are  a  few  of  the 
things  I  saw  about  which  I  am  positive  my  memory  of  the 
events  is  perfect.  Also,  that  you  stated  that  you  would  not  and 
did  not  exercise  any  act  of  volition  or  influence  upon  your 
"subjects,"  but  merely  waited  for  them  to  fall  into  the  hj-pnotic 
state  giving  rise  to  the  phenomena  described. 

Believe  me,  sincerely, 

J'J.  A.  Fkci-U's. 

Ithaca,  New  York,  January  30,  188G. 


32  FAITH-HEALING 

If  he  had  been  ill  of  any  disease  which  "  faith-heal- 
ers "  or  ''  magnetizers "  could  relieve,  he  would  have 
received  equal  help.  While  these  persons  were  stand- 
ing and  the  susceptible  were  passing  "  under  the  in- 
fluence," I  was  simply  waiting,  "  only  this  and  nothing 
more." 

(b)  As  for  causing  the  bedi'idden  to  rise,  and  break- 
ing up  morbid  conditions  that  had  defied  medicine 
while  being  aggravated  by  it,  these  are  among  the 
simplest  applications  of  the  principle  involved.  The 
confidence  of  those  unfamiliar  wdth  the  subject  would 
be  taxed  beyond  endurance  by  the  narration  of  illus- 
trative facts  to  which  there  is  abundant  testimony 
and  which  can  be  paralleled  easily. 

(c)  Intelligent  missionaries  and  travelers  in  hea- 
then lands,  where  they  have  given  any  investigation 
to  the  subject,  unite  in  testifying  that  extraordinary 
cures  follow  the  enchantments  and  magical  rites  em- 
ployed by  priests  and  physicians  claiming  super- 
natural powers. 

(fZ)  The  influence  of  witch-doctors  among  the  ne- 
groes of  Africa,  both  to  produce  disease  and  cure  it, 
is  as  well  authenticated  as  any  facts  concerning  the 
"Dark  Continent";  nor  is  it  necessary  to  go  there  for 
illustrations,  which  can  be  found  in  great  numbers  in 
the  South.  Not  long  since  an  entire  community  in 
the  vicinity  of  Atlanta,  Georgia,  were  greatly  excited 
by  the  terrible  diseases  which  followed  threats  made 
by  a  doctor  of  this  sort.  Voodooism  has  power  to 
bring  on  diseases  and  also  to  cure ;  nor  need  this 
burden  be  placed  upon  the  negroes  and  American  In- 
dians exclusively.  In  various  parts  of  Austria,  Ger- 
many, and  Russia,  among  the  peasantry  and  ignorant 
classes,  belief  in  witchcraft,  and  the  coincidences 
which  sustain  it,  still  exists;  and  on  the  authority  of 
mo.st  distinguished  pliysicians  and  surgeons  in  tliose 


FAITH-HEALING  33 

countries,  I  state  that  the  results  both  in  inflietinp: 
aud  in  removiug  what  they  never  inflicted,  which  fol- 
low the  operations  of  these  witch-doctors,  are  often 
astonishing. 

(e)  There  is  an  old  proverb  that  "when  rogues  fall 
out,  honest  men  get  their  dues."  It  is  also  true  that 
when  quacks  fall  to  discrediting  each  other,  prin- 
ciples may  be  discovered.  In  1865  there  came  to 
Detroit,  Michigan,  a  pupil  of  Dr.  Newton,  Bryant  by 
name,  who  performed  cures  as  successfully  as  Newton 
himself.  In  company  with  Dr.  J.  P.  Scott,  a  Pres- 
byterian minister  there,  I  visited  Dr.  Bryant,  and 
saw  him  operate  upon  a  score  or  more  of  j^atients 
(one  of  whom  had  been  supposed  to  be  doomed  to  a 
speedy  deatli  with  ovarian  tumor;  Dr.  Bryant  re- 
moved the  tumor,  after  which  she  lived  some  months 
and  died  of  debility).  To  comprehend  his  methods 
fully  I  was  operated  upon  for  dyspepsia.  About 
a  year  later,  returning  from  New  Orleans  to  Mem- 
phis, Tennessee,  I  found  on  board  tlie  steamer  Dr. 
Newton,  who  had  just  come  from  Havana.  Ho 
told  me  that  in  one  day  eight  hundred  persons  had 
applied  to  him  in  that  city.     On  the  same  steamer 

was  Dr.  B of  St.  Louis,  an  aged  physician  who 

had  been  to  Havana  with  a  wealthy  patient.  I  in- 
quired of  Dr.  B and  others  whether  sucli  groat 

numbers  had  visited  Dr.  Newton,  and  was  told  that 
such  was  the  report,  that  vast  crowds  had  surrounded 
him  from  the  day  he  arrived  till  he  embarked,  and 
that  marvelous  tales  were  told  of  the  euros  he  ])or- 
formed.  For  several  hours  a  day  during  four  days 
I  conversed  with  him  concerning  his  career  and  prin- 
ciples. My  conviction  is  that  he  believed  in  himself, 
and  also  that  he  would  use  any  moans  to  acooniplisli 
his  ends.  He  would  glido  from  fanaticism  into  hypoc- 
risy, then  into  fanaticism,  and  from  that  into  common 


34  FAITH-HEALING 

sense,  with  the  rapidity  of  thought.  He  said  that  he 
was  iuflueuced  by  spirits  who  told  him  what  to  say. 
He  would  use  the  name  of  Jesus  Christ  in  what  would 
seem  a  blasphemous  manner;  standing  before  an  au- 
dience he  would  say,  "  I  am  now  about  to  send  forth 
shocks  of  vitality."  He  would  move  his  arms  back- 
ward and  forward  and  exclaim,  "  In  the  name  of  Jesus 
Christ,  I  command  the  diseases  in  the  persons  now 
present  to  disappear !  "  He  would  go  to  the  paralytic 
or  lame  and  exclaim,  ''In  the  name  of  Jesus  Christ, 
be  healed  of  your  infirmity."  When  I  mentioned 
having  seen  "  Dr."  Bryant,  Dr.  Newton  instantly  de- 
nounced him  as  an  "unmitigated  fraud  who  had  no 
genuine  healing  power."  He  claimed  that  he  had 
cured  Bryant  of  a  malignant  disease  with  which  he 
found  him  suffering  in  a  hospital ;  that  Bryant  had 
acted  as  his  amanuensis  for  some  time,  and  then  left 
him,  and  had  since  been  acting  in  opposition  to  him. 
Knowing  that  the  manipulations  by  Bryant  had  been 
followed  by  some  wonderful  results  in  Detroit,  I  said 
to  Dr.  Newton : 

"If  Bryant  be  an  unmitigated  fraud,  how  do  you 
account  for  his  cures?" 

"Oh!"  said  the  doctor,  "they  are  caused  by  the 
faith  of  the  people  and  the  concentration  of  their 
minds  upon  his  operations,  with  the  expectation  of 
being  cured.  Now,"  said  he,  "none  would  go  to  see 
Bryant  unless  they  had  some  faith  that  he  might  cure 
them,  and  when  he  begins  his  operations  with  great 
positiveness  of  manner,  and  they  see  the  crutches  he 
has,  and  hear  the  people  testify  that  they  have  been 
cured,  it  produces  a  tremendous  influence  upon  them ; 
and  then  he  gets  them  started  in  the  way  of  exercis- 
ing, and  they  do  a  good  many  things  they  thought 
they  could  not  do;  their  appetites  and  spirits  revive. 


FAITH-HEALING  35 

and  if  toning  them  up  can  possibly  reduce  the  dis- 
eased tendency,  many  of  them  will  get  well." 

Said  I,  "Doctor,  pardon  me,  is  not  that  a  correct 
account  of  the  manner  in  which  you  perform  your 
wonderful  works?" 

"Oh,  no,"  said  he;  "the  difference  between  a  genuine 
healer  and  a  quack  hke  Bryant  is  as  wide  as  the  poles." 

To  question  him  further  upon  this  line  would  have 
put  an  end  to  the  conversation  sooner  than  I  desired. 

But  testing  fundamentally  the  same  methods  before 
and  since  that  interview  on  many  occasions,  always 
under  the  great  disadvantage  of  not  being  able  to 
profess  supernatural  aid,  either  of  spirits  or  of  God, 
and  thus  being  shut  up  to  affecting  the  mind  by  the 
laws  of  suggestion  and  association,  and  by  the  man- 
ner assumed,  and  finding  a  result  similar  in  kind, 
and  in  some  cases  equal  in  extent,  to  any  produced 
by  Newton  or  others,  I  know  that  when  he  was 
explaining  to  me  the  success  of  Bryant  upon  the 
assumption  that  he  had  no  healing  power,  he  gave 
inadvertently  the  whole  explanation  of  the  healing  as 
far  as  it  is  independent  of  mere  physical  manipula- 
tion. Dr.  Newton  had  been  to  Havana  with  his 
daughter,  very  low  with  consumption.  He  was  taking 
her  North,  doubtful  if  she  would  reach  home  alive. 
On  my  saying,  "Doctor,  why  could  you  not  heal  her!" 
he  mournfully  replied,  "It  seems  as  if  we  cannot 
always  affect  our  own  kindred!" 

(/)  In  working  miraculous  cures,  the  Mormons 
are  fully  equal  to  Catholics  or  Protestants.  In  Eu- 
rope one  of  their  chief  methods  of  making  converts 
is  praying  with  the  sick,  who  often  recover;  and 
similar  success  has  often  aided  them  in  making  con- 
verts in  this  country.  The  Rev.  Nathaniel  Mead,  a 
highly  respected  clergyman,  to  whom  Dr.  Baird  refers 


36  FAITH-HEALING 

in  his  "History  of  the  Town  of  Rye,"  authorized  me  to 
publish  the  following  facts,  with  the  sanction  of  his 
name. 

In  the  year  1839  a  Mormon  priest  came  to  the 
neighborhood  where  Mr.  Mead  resided,  and  obtained 
access  to  the  room  of  an  intelligent  member  of  a 
Christian  church,  who  had  long  been  hopelessly  ill. 
He  asked  permission  to  pray  for  her.  Catching  at 
anything,  she  consented.  He  prayed  with  great  ear- 
nestness, and  she  at  once  began  to  improve  and  re- 
covered with  surprising  rapidity.  Convinced  by  tbe 
supposed  miracle  that  God  was  with  the  Mormon 
priest,  she  left  the  Christian  church  and  identified 
herself  with  the  Mormons  to  the  extent  of  deserting 
friends  and  home. 

In  the  same  locality,  another  member  of  a  Chris- 
tian church  had  been  severely  injured  by  a  bar  of 
iron  which  fell  upon  his  foot,  mangling  and  crushing 
it.  The  same  Mormon  priest  prayed  with  him,  with  a 
similar  result ;  the  wound  healed  very  soon,  and  the 
man  became  a  convert  to  Mormonism. 

So  great  was  the  faith  of  certain  Mormon  proselytes 
in  Europe  that  the  priesthood  could  work  miracles, 
that  one  who  had  lost  a  leg  and  could  not  secure 
another  through  the  prayers  of  the  Mormon  mis- 
sionaries, crossed  the  Atlantic  and  made  a  pilgrim- 
age to  Salt  Lake  City,  where  he  had  an  interview 
with  Brigham  Young.  This  fox-like  prophet  and 
miracle-worker,  who  could  cope  in  intellectual  keen- 
ness with  Horace  Greeley,  said  to  him,  "  It  woidd 
be  easy  for  me  to  give  you  another  leg,  but  it  is  my 
duty  to  explain  to  you  the  consequences.  You  are 
now  well  advanced  in  life.  If  I  give  you  another  log, 
you  will  indeed  have  two  legs  until  you  die,  which 
will  1)0  a  groat  convonion(;o ;  ])ut  in  the  rosnrroction, 
not  only  will  the  log  which   you   lost  rise  and   be 


FAITH-HEALING  37 

united  to  your  body,  but  also  the  one  which  I  now 
give  you;  thus  you  will  be  encumbered  with  three 
legs  throughout  eternity.  It  is  for  you  to  decide 
whether  you  would  prefer  the  transient  inconve- 
nience of  getting  along  with  one  leg  till  you  die,  or 
the  deformity  of  an  extra  leg  forever."  The  pilgrim 
concluded  to  remain  maimed  in  this  life,  that  he 
might  not  be  deformed  in  that  which  is  to  come. 
This  may  be  a  myth,  but  it  falls  in  well  with  Brig- 
ham  Young's  known  character,  and  is  as  worthy  of 
respect  as  the  reasons  given  by  professedly  Christian 
faith-healers  for  not  working  miracles  of  this  kind, 
which  are  that  they  do  not  find  "  any  special  promise 
for  such  cases,"  and  that  "  they  find  no  inst-ance  where 
the  apostles  gave  new  limbs." 


INDUCTIONS 

The  inductions  from  these  cases,  and  from  the  fact 
that  they  are  constantly  paralleled,  are : 

(1)  That  subjective  mental  states,  such  as  concen- 
tration of  the  attention  upon  a  part  with  or  with- 
out belief,  can  produce  effects  either  of  the  nature  of 
disease  or  cure. 

(2)  Active  incredulity  in  persons  not  acquainted 
with  these  laws,  but  willing  to  be  experimented  upon, 
is  often  more  favorable  to  sudden  effects  than  mere 
stupid,  acquiescent  credulity.  The  first  thing  the  in- 
credulous, hard-headed  man,  who  believes  that  "  there 
is  nothing  in  it,"  sees,  that  he  cannot  fathom,  may 
lead  him  to  succumb  instantly  to  the  dominant  idea. 

(3)  That  concentrated  attention,  with  faith,  can 
produce  powerful  effects ;  may  o])erate  efficiently  in 
acute  diseases,  with  instantaneous  rapidity  upon  ner- 
vous diseases,  or  upon  anv  condition  capable  of  being 

4 


38  FAITH-HEALING 

modified  by  direct  action  through  the  nervous  or  cir- 
cnhitory  system. 

(4)  That  cures  can  be  wrought  in  diseases  of  accu- 
mulation, such  as  dropsy  and  tumors,  with  surprising 
rapidity,  where  the  increased  action  of  the  various 
excretory  functions  can  eliminate  morbid  growths. 

(5)  That  rheumatism,  sciatica,  gout,  neuralgia,  con- 
traction of  the  joints,  and  certain  inflammatory  condi- 
tions, may  suddenly  disappear  under  similar  mental 
states,  so  as  to  admit  of  helpful  exercise ;  which  exer- 
cise by  its  effect  upon  the  circulation,  and  through 
it  upon  the  nutrition  of  diseased  parts,  may  produce 
a  permanent  cure. 

(6)  That  the  "mind-cure,"  apart  from  the  absurd 
philosophy  of  the  different  sects  into  which  it  is  al- 
reaOy  divided,  and  its  repudiation  of  all  medicine, 
has  a  basis  in  the  laws  of  nature.  The  pretense  of 
mystery,  however,  is  either  honest  ignorance  or  con- 
summate quackery. 

(7)  That  all  are  unable  to  dispense  with  surgery, 
where  the  case  is  in  the  slightest  degree  complex  and 
mechanical  adjustments  are  necessary ;  also  that  they 
cannot  restore  a  limb,  or  eye,  or  finger,  or  even  a 
tooth.  But  in  certain  displacements  of  internal  or- 
gans the  consequence  of  nervous  debility,  which  are 
sometimes  aided  by  surgery,  they  all  sometimes  suc- 
ceed by  developing  latent  energy  through  mental 
stimulus. 


THE  MIRACLES  OF  CHRIST  AND  HIS  APOSTLES 

We  find  that  in  comparison  with  the  Mormons, 
Spiritualists,  Mind-Curers,  Roman  Catholics,  and  Mag- 
netizers,  the  Protestant  Faith-IIealers  can  accomplish 
as  much,  but  no  more;  that  they  have  the  same  limi- 


FAITH-HEALING  39 

tations  as  to  diseases  they  cannot  heal,  and  injuries 
they  cannot  repair ;  as  to  particular  cases  of  diseases 
that  they  can  generally  cure,  but  which  occasionally 
defy  them ;  and  as  to  their  liability  to  relapses.  We 
also  find  that  their  phenomena  can  be  paralleled  under 
the  operation  of  laws  with  which  "experts"  upon  the 
subject,  whether  medical  or  otherwise,  are  acquainted, 
but  which  are  not  recognized  by  the  general  public, 
including  many  physicians  of  various  schools,  clergy- 
men, lawyers,  educators,  and  literary  persons  of  both 
sexes  who  might  be  expected  to  understand  them. 

It  is  necessary  to  examine  the  New  Testament,  to 
ascertain  whether  Christ  was  subject  to  the  limita- 
tions which  have  marked  all  these.  The  record  states 
that  he  healed  "aZZ  manner  of  disease,  and  all  manner 
of  sickness."  It  declares  that  "they  brought  unto  him 
all  that  were  sick,  holden  of  divers  diseases  and  tor- 
ments, possessed  with  devils,  and  those  that  were 
lunatic  [new  version,  epileptic]  and  palsied;  and  he 
healed  them."  He  did  these  things  uniformly,  and 
sent  word  to  John,  "  The  hlind  receive  their  sight  and 
the  lame  walk,  the  lepers  are  cleansed  and  the  deaf 
hear,  and  the  dead  are  raised  npP  He  restored  the 
withered  hand,  not  by  the  slow  process  of  a  change  in 
the  circulation,  and  gradual  change  in  the  nutrition, 
followed  by  structural  alteration ;  but  it  was  instantly 
made  "whole  like  as  the  other."  Not  only  so,  he  re- 
stored limbs  that  had  been  cut  off.  See  New  Revision, 
Matthew  xv.  30:  "And  there  came  unto  him  great 
multitudes  having  with  them  the  lame,  blind,  dumb, 
maimed,  and  many  others,  and  they  cast  them  down 
at  his  feet;  and  he  healed  them ;  insomuch  that  the 
multitude  wondered,  when  they  saw  the  dumb  speak- 
ing, the  maimed  whole,  and  the  lame  walking,  and  the 
blind  seeing."  The  last  miracle  that  Christ  wrought 
before  his  crucifixion,  according  to  St.  Luke,  was  one 


40  FAITH-HEALING 

that  could  defy  all  these  *' faith-healers"  of  every 
species  to  parallel.  See  New  Revision,  Luke  xxii.  50 : 
''And  a  certain  one  of  them  smote  the  servant  of  the 
high  priest  and  struclt  off  his  riglit  ear.  But  Jesus 
answered  and  said,  Suffer  ye  thus  far.  And  lie  touched 
his  ear  and  healed  him." 

Rational  men  familiar  with  the  laws  expounded  in 
this  paper  could  not  believe  this  record  if  the  mighty 
works  told  of  Christ  and  the  apostles  were  comprised 
simply  in  an  account  of  wonderful  tales.  They  would 
reason  that  it  is  much  more  probable  that  those  who 
testified  to  these  things  were  deceived  or  exaggerated, 
or  that  those  who  received  the  original  accounts  added 
to  them,  than  that  they  should  have  happened.  But 
when  those  who  make  the  record  convey  to  us  ancient 
prophecies  attested  and  still  preserved  by  the  Jews 
and  fulfilled  in  the  character  and  works  of  Christ ;  the 
account  of  his  rejection  and  crucifixion  by  the  Jews ; 
the  Sermon  on  the  Mount ;  the  parable  of  the  prodi- 
gal son;  the  Golden  Rule;  the  sublime  and  spirit- 
ual doctrines  taught  by  Christ ;  and  the  picture  of  a 
life  and  of  a  death  scene  that  have  no  parallel  in  hu- 
man history  or  fiction,  and  declare  that  he  who  taught 
these  things  did  such  and  such  mighty  works  before 
us,  we  saw  them  and  were  convinced  by  the  miracles 
that  he  did,  "that  he  was  a  teacher  come  from  God,"  it 
is  no  longer  a  question  simply  of  believing  things  not 
included  in  the  laws  of  nature.  When  these  doctrines 
are  applied  to  men's  own  needs  and  lives,  they  prove 
their  divine  origin  by  the  radical  and  permanent 
changes  which  they  make  in  character.  Then  the 
subjects  of  these  changes  accept  the  truthfulness  of 
the  record  of  miracles  in  a  remote  past  which  they 
cannot  now  test  upon  the  authority  of  the  spiritual 
truths  which  they  are  capable  of  subjecting  to  the 
test  of  practical  experience. 


FAITH-IIEALING  41 

Some  allege  that  even  the  apostles  could  not  restore 
limbs  that  had  been  cut  otf,  or  that  had  been  wanting 
from  birth.  The  record  shows  that  the  apostles  made 
no  distinction  in  cases.  Ananias  prayed  for  Paul,  and 
"straightway  there  fell  from  his  eyes  as  it  had  been 
scales."  When  Tabitha  lay  dead,  Peter,  after  prayer, 
"turning  to  the  body  said,  'Tabitha,  arise,'"  and  he 
"presented  her  alive."  The  chains  fell  off  Peter  in 
the  prison,  and  "  the  iron  gate  opened  for  him  and 
the  angel  of  its  own  accord."  As  Peter  had,  in  the 
first  miracle  after  Pentecost,  given  strength  to  a  man 
who  had  been  lame  from  his  mothe)''s  ivomh,  so  Paul, 
seeing  a  man  at  Lystra,  "  a  cripple  from  his  mother's 
womb  who  had  never  walked,"  said,  "  with  a  loud 
voice,  'Staiul  upright  on  thy  feet,'  ajid  he  leaped  up 
and  walked."  They  cast  out  devils  wherever  it  was 
necessary,  and  when  Eutychus  fell  from  the  third 
story,  and  "  was  taken  up  dead,"  Paul  restored  him  to 
life  again.  On  the  island  of  Melita,  a  viper  hung  upon 
the  hand  of  Paul,  and  "  when  the  barbarians  saw  the 
beast  hanging  from  his  hand,  they  said  one  to  another, 
No  doubt  this  man  is  a  murderer,  whom,  though  he 
hath  escaped  from  the  sea,  yet  justice  hath  not  suffered 
to  live  " ;  but  when  they  remained  long  in  expectation 
and  beheld  nothing  amiss  come  to  him,  they  changed 
their  minds  and  said  he  was  a  "god."  We  are  in- 
formed that  after  that  the  diseases  of  the  entire  pop- 
ulation of  the  island  were  healed. 


CLAIMS  OF   "christian  PAITH-HEALERS,"   TECHNI- 
CALLY SO  CALLED,   EFFECTUALLY   DISCREDITED 

In  examining  the  healing  works  botli  of  ("lirist  and 
the  apostles,  it  appears  that  there  is  not  a  uniform  law 
that  the  sick  shoidd  exercise  faith,  and  that  it  was 


42  FAITH-HEALING 

not  necessary  that  their  friends  should  exercise  it,  nor 
that  either  they  or  their  friends  should  do  so.  Some- 
times the  sick  alone  believed ;  at  others,  their  friends 
believed  and  they  knew  nothing  about  it ;  again,  both 
the  sick  and  their  friends  believed,  and  on  some  oc- 
casions neither  the  sick  nor  the  friends.  No  account 
of  failure  on  the  part  of  Christ,  or  of  the  apostles 
after  his  ascension,  to  cure  any  case  can  be  found. 
Neither  is  there  a  syllable  concerning  any  relapse  or 
the  danger  of  such  a  thing,  nor  any  cautions  to  the 
cured,  ^^not  to  mind  sensations,'"  or  that  ^^  sensations  are 
tests  of  faith,'"  nor  any  other  such  quackery,  in  the 
New  Testament. 

Claims  of  Christian  faith-healers  to  supernatural 
powers  are  discredited  by  three  facts : 

(1)  They  exhibit  no  supremacy  over  pagans,  spirit- 
ualists, magnetizers,  mind-curers,  etc. 

(2)  They  cannot  parallel  the  mighty  works  that 
Christ  produced,  nor  the  works  of  the  apostles. 

(3)  All  that  they  really  accomplish  can  be  paralleled 
without  assuming  any  supernatural  cause,  and  a  for- 
mula can  be  constructed  out  of  the  elements  of  the 
human  mind  which  will  give  as  high  average  results 
as  their  prayers  or  anointings. 

That  formula  in  its  lowest  form  is  "  concentrated 
attention."  If  to  this  be  added  reverence,  whether  for 
the  true  and  ever-living  God,  false  gods,  spirits,  the 
operator,  witches,  magnetism,  electricity,  or  simple 
unnamed  mystery,  the  effect  is  increased  greatly.  If 
to  that  be  added  confident  expectancy  of  particular 
results,  the  effect  in  causing  sickness  or  relieving  it 
maybe  appalling.  Passes,  magnets,  anointings  with 
oil,  are  useful  only  as  they  produce  concentration  of 
attention,  reverence,  and  confident  expectancy.  Those 
whose  reputation  or  personal  force  of  thought,  man- 
ner, or  speech  can  produce  these  mental  states,  may 


FAITH-HEALING  43 

dispense  with  them  all,  as  Mesmer  finally  did  with 
the  "magnets,"  and  as  many  faith-healers  and  the 
Roman  Catholics  do  with  the  oil.^ 


THE  CHRISTIAN  DOCTRINE  OF  ANSWER  TO  PRAYER 

Is  there  then  no  warrant  in  the  New  Testament  for 
the  ordinary  Christian  to  pray  for  the  sick,  and  is 
there  no  utility  in  such  prayers?  "There  's  a  Di- 
vinity that  shapes  our  ends,  rough  hew  them  how  we 
will."  The  New  Testament  affirms  that  "All  things 
work  together  for  good  to  them  that  love  God,"  It 
teaches  that  the  highest  good  is  the  knowledge  and 
love  of  God,  and  that  the  Spirit  of  God  has  con- 
stant access  to  the  minds  of  men,  and  sets  forth  an 
all-inclusive  doctrine  of  Providence  without  whom 
not  even  a  sparrow  falls.  It  does  not  say  that  prayer 
will  always  secure  the  recovery  of  the  sick,  for  it 
gives  the  instance  of  Paul  who  had  a  "  thorn  in  the 
flesh,"  and  who  besought  the  Lord  thrice  that  this 
thing  should  depart  from  him,  but  received,  "My 
grace  is  sufficient  for  thee." 

None  can  demonstrate  that  God  cannot  work 
through  second  causes,  bringing  about  results  which, 
when  they  come,  appear  to  be  entirely  natural,  but 
which  would  not  have  come  except  through  special 
providence,  or  in  answer  to  prayer.  The  New  Testa- 
ment declares  that  he  does  so  interpose  "according 
to  his  will."  It  was  not  his  will  for  Paul,  and  he  did 
not  remove  the  thorn,  but  gave  spiritual  blessings 
instead.  Prayer  for  the  sick  is  one  of  the  most  con- 
soling privileges,  and  it  would  be  a  strange  omission 

1  The  Roman  Catholics  nso  oil  in  the  "  saenuneut  of  e.\trcmo 
unction,"  which  is  administered  in  view  of  death. 


44  FAITH-HEALING 

if  we  were  not  entitled  to  pray  for  comfort,  for  spir- 
itual help,  for  such  graces  as  will  render  continued 
chastening  unnecessary,  and  for  recovery,  when  that 
which  is  desired  is  in  harmony  with  the  will  of  God. 
Belief  that  when  the  prayer  is  in  accordance  with  the 
mind  of  God, "  the  prayer  of  faith  shall  save  the  sick, 
and  the  Lord  shall  raise  him  up,"  is  supported  by 
many  explicit  promises.  But  as  all  who  die  must  die 
from  disease,  old  age,  accident,  or  intentional  vio- 
lence, every  person  must  at  some  time  be  in  a  state 
when  prayer  cannot  prolong  his  life. 

When  we  or  others  are  suffering  from  any  malady, 
the  Christian  doctrine  is  that  we  are  to  use  the  best 
means  at  command,  and  to  pray,  "Father,  if  it  be 
possible,  let  this  cup  pass  from  me ;  nevertheless,  not 
my  will  but  thine  be  done."  The  prayer  may  be  an- 
swered by  its  effect  upon  the  mind  of  the  patient ;  by 
directing  the  physician,  the  nurse,  or  the  friends  to 
the  use  of  such  means  as  may  hasten  recovery ;  or, 
by  a  direct  effect  produced  upon  the  phj'sical  system, 
behind  the  visible  system  of  causes  aud  effects,  but 
reaching  the  patient  through  them  ;  if  the  patient  re- 
covers, it  will  seem  as  though  he  recovered  naturally, 
though  it  may  be  in  an  unusual  manner.  The  Chris- 
tian in  his  personal  religious  experience  may  believe 
that  his  prayer  was  the  element  that  induced  God  to 
interfere  with  the  course  of  nature  and  prolong  life. 
Assuming  that  there  is  a  God,  who  made  and  loves 
men,  none  can  show  his  faith  irrational  or  unscrip- 
tural;  but  such  testimony  can  be  of  no  value  to  dem- 
onstrate to  others  a  fact  in  the  plane  of  science. 
When  the  Christian  comes  to  die,  he  must  then  rest, 
even  while  praying  for  life,  upon  the  promise,  "My 
grace  is  sufficient  for  thee." 

Faith-healers  represent  God  as  int(^i-fering  con- 
stantly, not  by  cause  and  effect  in  the  order  of  nature, 


FAITH-HEALING  45 

but  affecting  the  result  directly.  That  they  do  not 
surpass  those  who  are  not  Christians,  but  use  either 
false  pretenses  or  natural  laws,  and  that  they  are  in- 
ferior in  healing  power  to  Christ  and  the  apostles, 
condemn  their  pretensions.  Nor  does  it  avail  them 
to  say,  "Christ  would  not  come  down  from  the  cross 
when  taunted  by  unbelievers."  They  might  perhaps 
with  propriety  refuse  a  test  for  the  testes  sake;  — 
though  Elijah  forced  one.  But  a  radical  difference 
between  their  work  and  what  it  accomplishes,  and 
those  who,  they  say,  have  no  divine  help,  should  be 
manifest.  Some  of  them  affirm  that  the  Mormons, 
Newton,  and  others  do  their  mighty  works  by  the  aid 
of  devils.  If  so,  since  casting  out  devils  was  miracle- 
working  power  of  low  grade,  it  is  wonderful  that 
none  of  these  persons  have  been  able  to  cast  out  the 
devils  from  any  of  the  large  number  who  are  working 
in  this  way,  and  thus  demonstrate  their  superiority 
as  the  apostles  vindicated  their  claims  against  Simon 
the  sorcerer  and  others. 

Faith-cure,  technically  so  called,  as  now  held  by 
many  Protestants,  is  a  pitiable  superstition,  danger- 
ous in  its  final  effects. 

It  may  be  asked.  What  harm  can  result  from  allow- 
ing persons  to  believe  in  "faith -healing"?  Very  great 
indeed.  Its  tendency  is  to  produce  an  effeminate  type 
of  character  which  shrinks  from  pain  and  concen- 
trates attention  upon  self  and  its  sensations.  It  sets 
up  false  grounds  for  determining  w'hether  a  person 
is  or  is  not  in  the  fav^or  of  God.  It  opens  the  door 
to  every  superstition,  such  as  attaching  importance  to 
dreams;  signs;  opening  the  Bible  at  random,  expect- 
ing the  Lord  so  to  influence  their  thoughts  and  minds 
that  they  can  gather  his  will  from  the  first  passage 
they  see;  "impressions,"  "assurances,"  etc.  Practi- 
cally it  gives  support  to  other  delusions  which  claim 


46  FAITH-HEALING 

a  supernatural  element.  It  seriously  diminishes  the 
influence  of  Christianity  by  subjecting  it  to  a  test 
which  it  cannot  endure.  It  diverts  attention  from 
the  moral  and  spiritual  transformation  which  Chris- 
tianity professes  to  work,  a  transformation  which 
wherever  made  manifests  its  divinity,  so  that  none 
who  behold  it  need  any  other  proof  that  it  is  of  God. 
It  destroys  the  ascendancy  of  reason,  and  thus,  like 
similar  delusions,  it  is  self -perpetuating ;  and  its  nat- 
ural and,  in  some  minds,  irresistible  tendency  is  to 
mental  derangement. 

Little  hope  exists  of  freeing  those  already  entangled, 
but  it  is  highly  important  to  prevent  others  from  fall- 
ing into  so  plausible  and  luxurious  a  snare,  and  to 
show  that  Christianity  is  not  to  be  held  responsible 
for  aberrations  of  the  imagination  which  belong  ex- 
clusively to  no  race,  clime,  age,  party,  or  creed. 


DEFENSE   OF  FAITH-HEALERS  EXAMINED 

Presentation  to  the  public,  through  "The  Cen- 
tury Magazine,"  of  the  substance  of  the  foregoing  ex- 
cited much  discussion,  and  led  the  most  conspicuous 
advocates  of  "  faith-healing"  therein  exposed  to  make 
such  defense  as  they  could.  But  confident  assertions 
of  supernatural  powers,  and  vehement  denials  of  the 
sufficiency  of  natural  causes  to  account  for  their  re- 
sults, and  quotations  of  misapplied  passages  of  Scrip- 
ture, have  been  the  only  defensive  weapons  of  the 
faith-healers.  They  have,  however,  been  compelled 
to  avow  that  "they  keep  no  record  of  failures,  as 
they  do  not  depend  upon  phenomena  or  cases,  but 
upon  the  divine  Word." 

This  admission  is  fatal.  If  they  cannot  do  the 
works,  either  they  have  not  the  faith,  or  they  misun- 


FAITH-HEALING  47 

derstand  the  promises  they  quote.  Christ  and  the 
apostles  depended  upon  the  phenomena  to  sustain 
their  claims;  and  when  the  apostles  failed  in  a  single 
instance  Christ  called  them  a  faithless  and  perverse 
generation.  The  failure  of  these  religious  thauma- 
turgists  to  surpass  other  manipulators  in  the  same 
line  in  the  nature  and  extent  of  their  mighty  works 
has  compelled  them  to  say  that  they  do  not  depend 
upon  phenomena,  and  make  no  record  of  unsuccessful 
attempts  and  relapses. 

The  difficulty  is  that  they  apply  promises  to  the 
ordinary  Christian  life  which  relate  to  the  power  of 
working  miracles.  That  they  misunderstand  and 
misapply  them  is  clear  also  from  the  fact  that  most 
spiritually  minded  Christians  in  the  greatest  emer- 
gencies have  been  unable  to  work  miracles.  The 
reformers — Calvin,  Knox,  Luther,  etc. — could  not. 
John  Wesley,  in  his  letter  to  the  Bishop  of  Gloucester, 
enumerates  all  the  miraculous  gifts  possessed  by  the 
apostles,  and  expressly  denies  that  he  lays  claim  to 
any  of  them.  Judson,  Carey,  Martyn,  Duff,  Brainord,^ 
and  other  eminent  missionaries  trying  to  preach  the 
Gospel  among  Pagans,  Mohammedans,  and  Pan- 
theists, most  of  whose  priests  are  believed  by  the 
people  to  be  able  to  work  miracles,  were  unable  to 

1  Brainerd,  in  his  narrative  of  his  work  among  the  American 
Indians,  confesses  his  great  embarrassment  as  follows: 

"  When  I  have  instructed  them  respecting  the  miracles 
wrought  by  Christ  in  healing  the  sick,  etc.,  and  mentioned  them 
as  evidences  of  his  divine  mission,  and  of  the  truth  of  his  doc- 
trines, they  have  quickly  refeiTcd  to  the  wonders  of  that  kind 
which  [a  diviner]  had  performed  by  his  magic  charms,  whence 
they  had  a  high  opinion  of  him  and  of  his  superstitious  notions, 
which  seemed  to  be  a  fatal  obstruction  to  some  of  them  in  tlio 
way  of  their  receiving  tlie  Gospel." 

Yet,  though  Brainerd  couM  do  none  of  tliese  miglity  works, 
he  was  the  means  of  the  conversion  of  that  very  diviner  by  tlic 
influence  of  hisown  life  and  the  spiritual  truths  which  he  tauglit. 


48  FAITH-HEALING 

prove  their  commission  by  any  special  power  over 
disease,  or  by  other  mighty  works.  In  Algiers,  after 
its  conquest  by  the  French,  the  power  of  juggling 
priests  was  so  great  that  it  was  impossible  to  pre- 
serve order  until  Robert  Hondin,  tlie  magician,  Avas 
sent  over,  whose  power  so  far  surpassed  that  of 
the  priests  that  their  ascendancy  over  the  people  was 
broken. 

The  charge  that  the  writer  is  not  a  spiritually 
minded  man  was  to  be  expected :  this  is  the  common 
cry  of  the  superstitious  when  their  errors  are  exposed. 
But  tlie  most  extraordinary  allegation  was  made  by 
A.  B.  Simpson,  founder  of  a  sect  of  faith-healers  in 
the  city  of  New  York.  lie  states  his  belief  that  the 
cases  ''  of  healing  and  other  supernatural  [)henom- 
ena  ascribed  to  Spiritualism  cannot  be  explained  awa}"" 
either  as  tricks  of  clever  performers  or  the  mere  effects 
of  Avill  power,  but  are,  in  very  many  instances,  directly 
supernatural  and  superhuman";  and  asserts  that: 
'^  The  cures  to  which  Dr.  Buckley  refers  among  hea- 
then nations,  the  Voodoos  of  the  negroes,  and  the 
Indian  medicine  men,  are  all  of  the  same  cliai-acter 
as  Spiritualism."  On  the  subject  of  Roman  Catholic 
miracles  he  says : 

"Where  there  is  a  simple  and  geuuiiiefaitli  in  a  Komanist, — 
and  we  have  found  it  in  some, —  God  will  lionor  it  as  well  as  in 
a  Protestant.  .  .  .  But  when,  on  the  other  hand,  they  are  cor- 
rupted by  the  errors  of  their  Churcli,  and  cxereisinj:;  faith,  not 
in  God,  but  in  the  relics  of  superstition,  or  the  image  of  the 
Virgin,  we  sec  no  difference  between  the  Kcmianist  and  the 
Spiritualist,  and  we  should  not  wonder  at  all  if  the  devil  sliould 
bo  permitted  to  work  his  lying  wonders  for  them,  as  he  does  for 
the  superstitious  Pagan  or  the  possessed  medium." 

This  means  that  if  the  Roman  Catholics  are  devout, 
it  is  God  who  does  the  mighty  works  for  them  ;  if 


FAITH-HEALING  19 

superstitious  it  is  the  devil.  As  many  of  the  most  re- 
markable phenomena  connected  with  Roman  Catholi- 
cism have  occurred  where  the  Virgin  is  most  promi- 
nent, as  at  the  Grotto  of  Lourdes,  and  at  Knock 
Chapel  (a  girl  having  been  cured  recently  by  drink- 
ing water  with  which  some  of  the  mortar  of  the 
chapel  had  been  mingled),  it  is  pertinent  to  ask,  if 
supernatural  operations  are  involved  in  both,  whether 
the  works  of  God  might  not  be  expected  to  be  superior 
to  those  of  the  devil? 

Mr.  Simpson  goes  so  far  as  to  say  that  what  he  calls 
"  divine  healing"  is  ** a  great  practical.  Scriptural,  and 
uniform  principle,  which  does  not  content  itself  with 
a  few  incidental  cases  for  psychological  diversion  or 
illustration,  but  meets  the  tens  of  thousands  of  God's 
suffering  children  with  a  simple  practical  remedy 
which  all  may  take  and  claim  if  they  will."'  Such 
propositions  as  this  are  as  wild  as  the  weather  pre- 
dictions that  terrify  the  ignorant  and  superstitious, 
but  are  the  amusement  and  scorn  of  all  rational  and 
educated  persons ;  as  the  following,  from  the  ''  Con- 
gregation alist"  of  Boston,  shows: 

We  have  taken  pains,  before  publishing  it,  to  confirm,  by 
correspondence,  the  singular  case  of  a  woman's  death  in  a  re- 
ligious meeting  at  Peekskill,  N.  Y.  Rev.  Mr.  Simpson,  for- 
merly a  Presbyterian  preacher,  was  holding  a  Holiness  Conven- 
tion, Major  Cole,  the  "Michigan  Evangelist,"  being  a  helper.  In 
an  "  anointing  service  "  an  elderly  lady,  long  afflicted  with  heart- 
disease,  who  had  walked  a  long  way  after  a  hard  day's  work, 
presented  herself  for  "divine  healing,"  and  was  anointed  by 
Mr.  Simpson.  A  few  minutes  after  she  fainted  and  died,  the 
finding  of  the  jury  of  inquest  being  that  her  death  was  from 
heart-disease,  but  hastened  J>y  the  excitement  of  the  service. 
One  would  suppose  that  the  case  would  bo  a  warning  against 
the  danger  of  such  <'X])eriment,s,  if  not  a  rebuke  of  the  almost 
blasphemous  assumption  of  miraculous  power. 


50  FAITH-HEALING 


ERROR  IN  MENTAL  PHYSIOLOGY 

A  RADICAL  error  in  mental  physiology  which  most 
of  these  persons  hold  relates  to  the  wilL  Referring 
to  the  theory  which  explains  the  cure  of  many  diseases 
by  bringing  the  person  to  exercise  special  will  power, 
Mr.  Simpson  says: 

Why  is  it  that  our  physicians  and  philanthropists  cannot  get 
the  sick  to  rise  up  and  exercise  this  will  power?  Oh!  that  is  the 
trouble  to  wliich  we  have  already  adverted.  The  will  is  as  weak 
as  the  frame,  and  the  power  that  is  needed  to  energize  both  is 
God:  and  Faith  is  just  another  name  for  the  new  divine  WILL 
which  God  breathes  into  the  paralyzed  mind,  enabling  it  to  call 
upon  the  enfeebled  body  to  claim  the  same  divine  power  for  its 
healing.  We  are  quite  willing  to  admit  the  blessed  effect  of  a 
quickened  faith  and  hope  and  will  ui)on  the  l)ody  of  the  sick. 
This  is  not  all.     There  must  also  be  a  direct  physical  touch. 

A  hotel-keeper  in  New  Hampshire,  lingering  at  the 
j)()int  of  death,  as  was  supposed,  for  weeks  with 
typhus,  saw  the  flames  burst  from  liis  barn.  ''Great 
God ! "  cried  he,  "  there  is  nobody  to  let  the  cattle  out ! " 
He  sprang  from  the  bed,  cared  for  the  cattle,  broke 
out  in  a  profuse  perspiration,  and  recovered.  Tlie 
burning  barn  gave  him  no  strength,  but  the  excite- 
ment developed  latent  energy  and  will. 

Mrs.  H.  had  long  been  ill,  was  emaciated  and  so 
weak  that  she  could  not  raise  a  glass  of  water  to  lier 
lips.  One  day  the  house  took  fire.  She  sprang  from 
the  bed,  seized  a  chest  full  of  odds  and  ends,  and  car- 
ried it  out  of  doors.  This,  as  a  result  of  an  effort  of 
will,  she  could  not  have  done  when  in  health  without 
help. 

A  letter  recinitly  received  from  the  Rev.  J.  L.  Ilum- 
})lirey,  for  many  ycai-s  ;i,  missionary  in  Indiii,  now  of 
Richfield  Springs,  N.  Y.,  says: 


FAITH-HEALING  51 

The  following  instance  came  under  my  observation  in  India. 
An  officer  of  the  Government  was  compelled  to  send  native  mes- 
sengers out  into  a  district  infected  with  cholera.  As  he  sent 
them  out  they  took  the  disease  and  died;  and  it  came  to  such  a 
pass  among  the  Government  peons  under  his  charge  that  a  man 
thought  himself  doomed  when  selected  for  that  duty.  A  German 
doctor  in  that  region  had  put  forth  the  theory  that  inoculation 
with  a  preparation  of  quassia  was  a  specific  for  cholera — a 
simon-pure  humbug.  But  this  gentleman  seized  the  idea;  he 
cut  the  skin  of  the  messenger's  arm  with  a  lancet  so  as  to  draw 
some  blood,  and  then  rubbed  in  the  quassia,  telling  them  what 
the  doctor  had  said  about  it.    Not  a  man  thus  treated  died. 

The  surprising  strength  and  endurance  exhibited 
by  lunatics  and  delirious  persons  often  show  that  the 
amount  of  power  which  can  be  commanded  by  the  will 
under  an  ordinary  stimulant  by  no  means  equals 
the  latent  strength.  Equally  true  is  it  that  mental 
and  emotional  excitement  often  renders  the  subject 
of  it  unconscious  of  pain,  which  otherwise  would  be 
unendurable.  Even  without  such  excitement,  a  sud- 
den shock  may  cause  a  disease  to  disappear. 

The  following  was  narrated  to  me  by  an  eminent 
physician : 

I  was  once  called  to  see  a  lady,  not  a  regular  patient  of  mine, 
who  had  suffered  for  months  with  rheumatism.  Her  situation 
was  desperate,  and  everything  had  been  done  that  I  could  tliink 
of  except  to  give  her  a  vapor  bath.  There  was  no  suitable  ap- 
paratus, and  I  was  obliged  to  extemporize  it.  Finding  some  old 
tin  pipe,  1  attached  it  to  the  spout  of  the  tea-kettle  and  then 
put  the  other  end  of  the  pipe  under  the  bed-clothes,  and  directed 
the  servant  to  half  fill  the  kettle,  so  as  to  leave  room  for  the 
vapor  to  generate  and  pass  through  tlio  pipe  into  the  bed.  I 
then  sat  down  to  read,  and  waited  for  tlie  result.  The  servant 
girl,  however,  desiring  to  do  all  she  could  for  her  mistress,  had 
filled  the  kettle  to  the  very  lid.  Of  course  there  was  no  room 
for  steam  to  form,  and  the  liot  water — boiling,  in  fact  — ran 
through  the  pipe  and  reached  the  body  of  the  patient.  The 
instant  it  struck  her  she  gave  a  shriek  and  said.  "Doctor,  you 
have  scalded  me!"  and  as  she  said  this  she  leaped  out  of  hod. 


52  FAITH-HEALING 

"But  now,"  said  the  physician,  "oame  the  wonder.  The  rheu- 
matism was  all  gone  in  that  instant,  nor  did  she  have  any  re- 
turn of  it,  to  my  knowledge." 

A  "missing  link" 

If  there  were  no  other,  a  fatal  stumbling-block  in 
the  way  of  the  faith-healers  is  their  failure  in  surgical 
cases.  But  they  seize  everything  that  could  even  point 
at  extrahuman  interference  with  the  order  of  nature. 
The  following  is  taken  from  the  "Provincial  Medical 
Journal"  of  Leicester  and  London,  June  1,  1886,  and 
is  an  illustration  of  the  subject: 

Another  "wonderful  cure"  at  the  Bethshan.  T,  M.  N.,  during 
a  voyage  from  Liverpool  to  New  York  on  board  the  steamship 
Helvetia,  sustained  a  compound  fracture  of  the  left  humerus  at 
about  the  line  of  junction  of  the  middle  with  the  lower  third. 
The  injury  was  treated  for  a  few  days  by  the  mercantile  sur- 
geon. On  his  arrival  at  New  York  on  December  29,  1883  (four 
days  after  the  accident),  he  was  transferred  to  a  public  hospital. 
He  was  at  once  treated,  the  fracture  being  fixed  in  a  plaster-of- 
Paris  dressing,  and  this  mode  of  mechanical  fixation  was  con- 
tinued for  three  months,  when  the  surgeon,  perceiving  no  pro- 
gress toward  union,  performed  the  operation  of  resetting  the 
fractured  ends.  The  arm  and  forearm  were  again  put  in  plaster- 
of -Paris,  and  retained  until  his  arrival  in  Liverpool,  five  months 
after  the  date  of  the  injury.  On  June  10,  1884,  he  submitted 
his  arm  for  ray  inspection,  when  on  removal  of  the  dressing  I 
found  there  was  no  attempt  at  repair,  and  that  the  cutaneous 
wound  pertaining  to  the  operation  had  not  healed.  The  method 
of  treatment  I  pursued  was  the  following:  The  forearm  was  first 
slung  from  the  neck  by  its  wrist ;  the  ulcer  was  attended  to,  and 
an  area  inclusive  of  the  fracture  partially  strangulated  by  means 
of  india-rubber  bands.  This  was  continued  for  three  months, 
but  without  appreciable  result.  I  therefore,  in  addition  to  tliis 
treatment,  percussed  the  site  of  fracture  every  three  weeks. 
Four  months  passed,  and  yet  no  change.  After  seven  months 
the  ulceration  was  healed,  and  the  limb  slung  as  before,  partially 
straTigulated  and  i)ercussed  monthly,  but,  in  adtlition.  maintained 
well  fixed  ))y  a  splint,  and  carefully  readjusted  on  tlie  occasion 
when  percussion  was  employed.     At  length  I  found  evidence 


FAITH-HEALING  53 

that  repair  was  progressing,  for  at  tliis  date,  December,  1885,  it 
required  tsomo  force  to  spring  tbe  counection.  I  now  knew  it 
could  only  be  a  question  of  a  few  weeks  for  consolidation  to  bo 
complete,  but  thought  it  wise  for  some  little  time  to  leave  the 
arm  protected,  lest  rough  usage  should  destroy  the  good  attained. 
However,  the  patient  suddenly  disappeared,  and  on  the  13th  of 
April  I  received  the  following  interesting  document: 

"  No.  2  WoODHOUSE  St.,  Walton  Road, 
"Monday,  April  12th. 

"Dear  Sir:  I  trust  after  a  very  careful  perusal  of  the  few 
following  words  I  may  retain  the  same  share  of  your  favorable 
esteem  as  previously,  and  that  you  will  not  think  too  hardly  of 
me  because,  although  I  have  done  a  deed  which  you  would  not 
sanction,  and  which  was  against  your  injunctions.  Still,  I  must 
write  and  let  you  know  all  about  it,  because  I  know  you  have 
been  so  kind  to  me  from  a  purely  disinterested  motive.  I  daro 
say  you  remember  mo  mentioning  the  'faith-healing'  some 
time  ago,  and  to  which  you  remarked  that  '  it  wonlil  do  no 
harm  to  try  it,  but  that  you  thought  1  shoidd  require  viii/lity 
faith.' 

"  Well,  I  have  tried  it,  and  I  am  sure  that  you  will  be  glad  to 
hear  that  my  arm  is  not  only  in  my  sleeve,  but  in  actual  use, 
and  has  been  for  the  past  three  weeks.  The  pain  1  bore  after 
the  last  beating  was  something  dreadful,  and  being  in  groat 
trouble  at  my  lodgings  at  the  time,  I  was  downhearted.  I  was 
thrown  out  of  my  lodgings,  and  being  quite  destitute,  I  reasoned 
in  myself,  and  came  to  the  conclusion  that  if  I  really  asked 
God  to  make  it  better  right  away  he  would,  and  I  was  told  that 
if  I  would  do  away  with  all  means  and  leave  it  to  him,  it  would 
be  all  right.  So  I  just  took  off  all  your  bandages  and  sitlint, 
and  put  it  in  my  sleeve.  I  have  now  the  use  of  my  arm,  and  it 
is  just  the  same  as  my  right  one — just  as  strong.  Several 
times  I  called  at  your  house  when  on  my  way  to  the  Bethshan, 
George's  street,  but  Dr.  Gormley  slammed  me  out,  and  therefore 
I  did  not  like  to  come  again. 

"I  cannot  describe  how  thankful  I  am,  doctor,  for  your  past 
kindness  and  goodness  to  me,  and  that  is  one  reason  I  have 
not  seen  you.  I  know  you  will  be  glad  to  see  mo  with  it  in  my 
sleeve.  Yours  very  truly, 

''  Tom  M.  Nicholson'. 

"Dr.  II.  O.  Thomas. 

"P.  S. —  Any  communication  will  reach  me  if  addressed  to 
me  at  the  abov*>,  should  you  desire  to  write." 


54  FAITH-HEALING 

There  is  very  little  to  add  to  this  case.  ...  It  affords, 
however,  a  typical  instance  of  the  way  a  Bethshan  tlirives. 
The  surgeon  tells  a  patient  all  but  recovered  to  be  cautious  lest 
the  results  of  months  of  care  be  nullified,  and  "  fools  rush  in  " 
and  tell  him  ''to  dispense  with  means  and  all  will  be  well."  In 
this  particular  instance  the  result  was  harmless,  but  it  would 
be  interesting  to  inquire  how  many  poor  deluded  victims  are 
consigned  to  irremediable  defects  by  an  ignorant  and  fanatical 
display  which  is  a  satire  upon  our  civilization. 

In  this  country  the  case  that  has  been  most  fre- 
quently quoted  is  narrated  by  the  late  W.E.  Boardnian, 
who  had  the  story  from  Dr.  CuUis  and  gives  it  thus : 

The  children  were  jumping  off  from  a  bench,  and  my  little 
son  fell  and  hrol:e  both  hones  of  his  arm  hchnv  the  dhow.  My 
brother,  who  is  a  professor  of  surgery  in  the  college  at  Chicago, 
was  here  on  a  visit.  I  asked  him  to  set  and  dress  the  arm.  He 
did  so  ;  put  it  in  splints,  bandages,  and  in  a  sling.  The  dear 
child  was  very  patient,  and  went  about  without  a  murmur  all 
that  day.  The  next  morning  he  came  to  me  and  said,  "Dear 
papa,  please  take  off  these  things."  "Oh,  no,  my  son  ;  you  will 
have  to  wear  these  five  or  six  weeks  before  it  will  be  well!" 
"Why,  papa,  it  is  well."  "Oh,  no,  my  dear  child;  that  is  im- 
possible!" "Why,  papa,  you  believe  in  prayer,  don't  you?" 
"You  know  I  do,  my  son."  "Well,  last  night  when  I  went  to 
bed,  it  hurt  me  very  bad,  and  I  asked  Jesus  to  make  it  well."  I 
did  not  like  to  say  a  word  to  chill  his  faith.  A  happy  thought 
came.  I  said,  "  My  dear  child,  your  uncle  put  the  things  on, 
and  if  they  are  taken  off,  he  must  do  it."  Away  he  went  to  his 
uncle,  who  told  him  he  would  have  to  go  as  he  was  six  or  seven 
weeks,  and  must  be  very  patient ;  and  when  the  little  fellow 
told  him  that  Jesus  had  made  him  well,  he  said,  "  Pooh  !  pooh ! 
nonsense!"  and  sent  him  away.  The  next  morning  the  poor 
boy  came  to  me  and  pleaded  with  so  much  sincerity  and  con- 
fidence, that  I  more  than  lialf  believed,  and  went  to  my  brother 
and  said,  "  Had  you  not  better  undo  his  arm  and  let  liim  see  for 
himself?  Then  ho  will  be  satisfied.  If  you  do  not,  I  fear, 
though  he  is  very  ol)edient,  he  may  be  tempted  to  undo  it  him- 
self, and  then  it  may  be  worse  for  him."  My  brother  yielded, 
took  off  the  l)aiidages  and  the  splints,  and  exclaimed,  "It  is 
well,  absolutely  well!"  and  hastened  to  the  door  to  keep  from 
fainting. 


FAITH-HEALING  55 

Afterward  the  Rev.  Mr.  Gordon  introduced  the  above 
alleged  occurrence  into  his  "  Mystery  of  Healing." 

This  case  was  thoroughly  investigated  by  Dr.  James 
Henry  Lloyd,  of  the  University  of  Pennsylvania,  and 
in  the  "Medical  Record"  for  March  27,  1886,  Dr. 
Lloyd  published  a  letter  from  the  very  child,  who  has 
become  a  physician. 

Dear  Sir:  The  case  you  cite,  when  robbed  of  all  its  sensa- 
tional STiiToundings,  is  as  follows:  The  child  was  a  spoiled 
youngster  who  would  have  his  own  way ;  and  when  he  had  a 
green  sti^'k  fracture  of  the  forearm,  and.  after  having  had  it 
bandaged  for  several  days,  concluded  he  would  much  prefer 
going  without  a  splint,  to  please  the  spoiled  child  the  splint  was 
removed,  and  the  arm  carefully  adjusted  in  a  sling.  As  a  matter 
of  course,  the  bone  soon  united,  as  is  custoraaiy  in  children, 
and  being  only  partially  broken,  of  course  all  the  sooner.  This 
is  the  miracle. 

Some  nurse  or  crank  or  religious  enthusiast,  ignorant  of 
matters  physiological  and  histological,  evidently  started  the 
story,  and  unfortunately  my  name  —  for  I  am  the  party  —  is 
being  circulated  in  circles  of  faith-curites,  and  is  given  the  sort 
of  notoriety  I  do  not  crave.     .     .     . 

Very  respectfully  yours, 

Carl  H.  Reed. 


EVILS  OF  THIS  SUPERSTITION 

Many  well-attested  cases  of  irreparable  damage  to 
religion,  individuals,  and  to  the  peace  of  churches  and 
families  have  been  placed  in  my  hands  or  ascertained 
by  investigation.    From  them  I  select  the  following : 

A  lady,  a  member  of  the  Christian  church,  aged  about  fifty- 
five  years,  had  been  ailing  for  two  or  three  years.  She  fell  and 
bruised  her  side,  and  was  confined  to  her  bed  for  some  weeks. 
She  was  better  for  a  month  perhaps,  and  then  the  disease  de- 
veloped into  internal  abscess  of  the  stomach,  and  she  slowly 
declined  until  her  death,  which  occun-ed  about  five  montlis 
afterward.  She  and  her  family  became  very  anxious  for  her 
recovery,  and,  being  very  devout,  their  minds  turned  to  faith- 


56  FAITH-HEALING 

cures  and  faitli-liealers.  A  month  before  lier  death  she  was  in 
correspoudenee  with  one  of  these  persons.  This  hidy  appointed 
an  hour  in  which  to  pray,  and  directed  that  friends  in  the  place 
where  she  resided  should  meet  and  pray  at  that  time.  Her 
pastor  went  and  prayed.  At  the  close  of  this  interview  the  pa- 
tient told  him  she  had  received  just  then  a  great  blessing,  so 
that  now  she  felt  reconciled  to  die,  and  subsequently  said  no- 
thing about  healing,  but  much  about  the  heavenly  rest  which 
she  expected  soon  to  enter.  For  a  long  time  her  nourishment 
had  been,  and  then  was,  taken  entirely  in  the  form  of  injections 
of  beef  tea.  On  a  certain  day  a  layman  who  had  been  healed, 
and  was  himself  a  healer  and  a  prime  mover  in  faith-healing 
conventions,  visited  her  about  noon  and  stayed  until  near  even- 
ing. He  told  the  lady  and  her  childi'en  that  the  Lord  had  sent 
him  there  that  she  might  be  instantly  healed,  read  and  ex- 
pounded the  book  of  James,  brought  out  liis  phial  of  oil, 
anointed  her  forehead,  knelt  by  her  bedside,  holding  her  hand 
in  his,  and  prayed  very  earnestly  for  her  immediate  cure,  claim- 
ing present  conscious  testimony  by  the  Holy  Spirit  that  the 
cure  was  wrought.  On  rising  from  his  knees,  still  holding  her 
hand,  he  lifted  the  lady  in  bed  to  a  sitting  posture,  and  pro- 
nounced her  cured  in  the  name  of  the  Holy  Trinity.  A  mem- 
ber of  the  family  protested  that  it  was  hazardous  for  her  to  sit 
up  in  that  way,  as  she  had  not  been  able  to  sit  up  for  many 
weeks.  Finally  the  patient  laid  down  exhausted,  and  the  visi- 
tor left,  assuring  the  family  that  "  in  four  days  mother  would  bo 
up  and  about."  Shortly  after  this  (perhaps  an  hour)  intense 
pain  in  the  stomach  began  and  kept  increasing  until  the  agony 
became  unendurable,  so  that  groans  and  screams  of  distress 
were  wrung  from  her.  Tliis  continued  for  twelve  hours,  when 
exhaustion  and  stupor  ensued,  which  lasted  until  hor  death, 
the  next  day.  An  autopsy  was  held  by  physicians  who  had 
been  in  attendance,  and  they  reported  a  lesion  of  the  stomach, 
caused,  in  their  opinion,  by  the  exertion  of  tlie  patient  in  aris- 
ing and  sitting  up  in  bed.  When  our  informant  met  the  visit- 
ing brother  who  had  had  a  revelation  of  the  Spirit  that  the 
patient  was  to  recover,  he  inquired  after  the  ease,  aiul  on  being 
told  that  our  informant  was  about  to  go  to  the  fuiu>ral,  he  ex- 
pressed great  surprise  aiul  said,  "  It  sometimes  happens  that 
way." 

Can  anything  more  IJaspliemou.s  l)e  iina^iiicd  tliaii 
the  presumptuous  claim  of  a  revelation  throu^li  the 


FAITH-IIEALING  57 

Holy  Spirit  of  a  matter  of  fact,  and  the  pronoiineing 
the  dying  cured  in  the  name  of  the  Holy  Trinity  ? 

Families  have  been  broken  up  by  the  doctrine 
taught  in  some  leading  "Faith-Homes"  that  friends 
who  do  not  believe  this  truth  are  to  be  separated 
from  because  of  the  weakening  effect  of  their  disbe- 
lief upon  faith.  A  heartrending  letter  has  reached 
me  from  a  gentleman  whose  mother  and  sister  are 
now  residing  in  a  faith-institution  of  New  York,  re- 
fusing all  intercourse  with  their  friends,  and  neglect- 
ing obvious  duties  of  life. 

Certain  advocates  of  faith-healing  and  faith-homes 
have  influenced  women  to  leave  their  husbands  and 
parents  and  reside  in  the  homes,  and  have  persuaded 
them  to  give  thousands  of  dollars  for  their  purposes, 
on  the  ground  that  "the  Lord  had  need  of  the  money." 

This  system  is  connected  with  every  other  super- 
stition. The  Bible  is  used  as  a  book  of  magic.  Many 
open  it  at  random,  expecting  to  be  guided  by  the 
first  passage  they  see,  as  Peter  was  told  to  open  the 
mouth  of  the  first  fish  that  came  up  and  he  would 
find  in  it  a  piece  of  money.  A  missionary  of  liigh 
standing  with  whom  I  am  acquainted  was  cured  of 
this  form  of  superstition  by  consulting  the  Bible  on 
an  important  matter  of  Christian  duty,  and  the  passage 
that  met  his  gaze  was,  "  Hell  from  beneath  is  moved 
to  meet  thee  at  thy  coming."  Paganism  can  produce 
nothing  more  superstitious,  though  many  Christians, 
instead  of  "  searching  the  Scriptures,"  still  use  the 
Bible  as  though  it  were  a  divining-rod. 

It  feeds  upon  impressions,  makes  great  use  of 
dreams  and  signs,  and  puts  forth  statements  untrue 
and  pernicious  in  their  influence.  A  young  huly 
hmg  ill  was  visited  by  a  minister  who  prayed  with 
her,  in  great  joy  arose  from  his  knees,  and  said, 
"Jennie,  you  are  sure  to  recover.     Dismiss  all  fear. 


58  FAITH-HEALING 

The  Lord  has  revealed  it  to  me."  Soon  after,  physi- 
cians in  consultation  decided  that  she  had  cancer  of 
the  stomach,  of  which  she  subsequently  died.  He 
who  had  received  the  impression  that  she  would 
recover,  when  met  by  the  pastor  of  the  family,  said, 
"  Jennie  will  certainly  get  well.  The  Lord  will  raise 
her  up.  He  has  revealed  it  to  me."  Said  the  minis- 
ter, "  She  has  not  the  nervous  disease  she  had  some 
years  ago.  The  physicians  have  decided  that  she  has 
cancer  of  the  stomach."  "  Oh,  well,"  was  the  reply, 
''if  that  is  the  case,  she  is  sure  to  die." 

A  family  living  in  the  city  of  St.  Louis  had  a  daugh- 
ter who  was  very  ill.  They  were  well  acquainted  with 
one  of  the  prominent  advocates  of  faith-healing  in 
the  East,  who  made  her  case  a  subject  of  prayer,  and 
whose  wife  wrote  her  a  letter  declaring  that  she  would 
certainly  be  cured,  and  the  Lord  had  revealed  it.  The 
letter  arrived  in  St.  Louis  one  day  after  her  death. 

These  are  cases  taken  not  from  the  operations  of 
recognized  fanatics,  but  from  those  of  leading  lights 
in  this  ignis  fatuHS  movement. 

It  is  a  means  of  obtaining  money  under  false  pro- 
tenses.  Some  who  promulgate  these  views  are  hon- 
est, but  underneath  their  proceedings  runs  a  subtle 
sophistry.  They  establish  institutions  which  they 
call  faith-homes,  declaring  tliat  they  ai'e  supported 
entirely  by  faith,  and  that  they  use  no  means  to  make 
their  work  known  or  to  persuade  persons  to  contrib- 
ute. Meanwhile  they  advertise  their  work  and  insti- 
tutions in  every  possible  way,  publishing  reports  in 
which,  though  in  many  instances  wanting  in  business 
accui'acy,  they  exhibit  the  most  cunning  wisdom  of 
the  children  of  this  world  in  the  conspicnous  publica- 
tion of  letters  such  as  the  following: 

Dear  Brother:  Tlie  Lord  told  me  to  send  you  fifty  dollars 
for  your  glorious  work.     I  did  so,  and  have  been  a  great  deal 


FAITH-HEALING  59 

happier  than  I  ever  was  before ;  and  from  unexpected  quarters 
viorc  than  three  times  the  amount  has  come  in. 

In  one  of  the  papers  devoted  to  this  subject  this 
letter  recently  appeared : 

Dear  Brother  :  Please  announce  through  the  "  Crown  of 
Glory  "  tliat  I  will  sail  for  the  western  coast  of  Africa  to  preach 
a  full  salvation  in  the  name  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  to 
heal  whomsoever  the  Lord  will  by  faith,  as  soon  as  the  Lord 
sends  the  balance  of  the  money  to  pay  my  fare.  I  have  re- 
nounced all  rum,  wine,  cider,  tobacco,  beer,  ale,  and  medicines 
—  only  Jesus!  Only  Jesus  my  Savior!  I  will  sail  October  10, 
if  the  Lord  sends  the  balance  of  the  money  to  Brother  Heller, 
48  Orchard  St.,  Newark,  N.  J.  Yours,  in  Christ, 

S.  B.  Myler. 

A  prominent  English  advocate  of  this  method  of 
raising  money,  who  has  done  an  extraordinary  and 
useful  work,  on  one  of  his  missionary  tours  in  tliis 
country  explained  his  curious  system  with  so  much 
eloquence  tliat  the  founders  of  certain  faith-homes 
in  the  United  States  called  upon  the  editors  of  vari- 
ous religious  papers  and  endeavored  to  induce  them 
to  set  forth  that  there  are  institutions  in  this  covmtiy 
conducted  on  the  same  principle,  naively  observing 
that  they  did  not  wish  his  presence  and  eloquence 
to  divert  to  England  money  that  should  be  expended 
here.  Yet  they  " do  not  use  means"  !  But  as  in  the 
case  of  the  supposed  faith-healings,  for  every  success- 
ful instance  there  are  a  large  number  of  unrecorded 
grievous  failures;  and  many  subjects  of  delusion  who 
have  established  faith-liomes  to  wliich  the  public  has 
not  responded  have  suffered  the  agonies  of  death. 
Some  have  starved,  some  have  been  relieved  by  be- 
nevolent Christian  friends,  and  others  have  been  ta- 
ken to  asylums  for  the  insane.  Similar  wrecks  are  to 
be  found  all  through  the  land,  dazzled  and  deceived 
V)y  the  careers  of  the  few  who  have  succeeded  in  get- 


60  FAITH-HEALING 

ting  their  enterprises  under  way  and  enjoy  a  mo- 
nopoly of  their  limited  method  of  obtaining  revenue. 
Some  who  succeed  are  doubtless  as  sincere  men  and 
women  as  ever  lived.  Others  oscillate  between  knav- 
ery and  unbridled  fanaticism. 

The  horrible  mixture  of  superstition  and  blas- 
phemy to  which  these  views  frequently  lead  is  not 
known  to  all.  I  quote  from  a  paper  published  in 
Newark,  N.  J.,  in  the  interest  of  faith-healing : 

Death. — Three  of  the  richest  men  in  Ocean  Park,  N.  J.,  have 
died.  Faith-liealing  has  been  taught  in  the  place,  but  was  re- 
jected by  them,  so  death  came. 

CHARLESTO>f,  S.  C. — A  few  years  ago  the  Holy  Ghost  sent  me 
to  preach  in  that  city.  But  they  rejected  the  Gospel  and  me. 
A  wicked  man  shot  at  me  and  tried  to  kill  me,  but  God  saved 
me  so  that  I  was  not  harmed.  .  .  .  But  I  had  to  leave 
Charleston  and  do  as  the  great  Head  of  the  Church  said  :  .  .  . 
"when  ye  depart  out  of  that  house  or  city,  shake  off  the  dust 
from  your  feet."  Earthquake,  September  1,  18SG  ;  one-half  tlio 
city  in  ruins.  It  has  a  population  of  about  fifty  thousand  peo- 
ple.    Ye  wicked  cities  in  the  world,  take  warning!    God  lives! 


SUPPOSED  DIFFICULTIES 

It  has  been  suggested  that  if  faith-liealing  can  be 
demonstrated  to  be  subjective,  wliat  is  caHcd  conver- 
sion can  be  accounted  for  similarly.  If  by  conver- 
sion is  meant  the  cataleptic  condition  which  occurred 
among  Congregationalists  in  the  time  of  Jonathan 
Edwards,  certain  Presbyterians  and  Baptists  in  the 
early  part  of  this  century  in  the  South  and  West, 
and  the  early  Methodists,  and  is  still  common  among 
colored  people,  Second  Adventists,  and  tlie  Sidvation 
Army,  and  not  wliolly  unknown  among  others,  I  ad- 
mit that  such  ])henomcna  are  of  natural  origin. 

But  if  conversion  is  understood  to  mean  a  recogni- 
tion of  sinfulness,  genuine  repentance,  and  complete 


FAITH-HEALING  Gl 

trust  in  the  promises  of  God,  accompanied  by  a  con- 
trolling determination  to  live  hereafter  in  obedience 
to  the  law  of  God,  this  is  radically  different.  Such 
an  experience  may  be  sufficiently  intense  to  produce 
tears  of  sorrow  or  joy,  trances,  or  even  lunacy.  But 
neither  the  lunacy,  the  trances,  nor  the  tears  are 
essential  parts  of  the  conversion.  They  are  results 
of  emotional  excitement,  differing  in  individuals  ac- 
cording to  temperament  and  education.  If  these  re- 
sults are  believed  to  have  a  divine  origin — especially 
when  the  susceptible  are  exposed  to  the  contagion  of 
immense  crowds  swayed  by  a  common  impulse  and 
acted  upon  by  oratory — hundreds  may  succumb  to 
the  epidemic  who  do  not  experience  any  moral  change, 
while  others  who  are  thus  excited  may  at  the  same 
time  be  genuinely  reformed. 

The  inquiry  has  been  made  why  these  principles  do 
not  apply  to  the  miracles  of  Christ;  why  I  do  not 
sift  the  evidence  in  the  same  way,  and  explain  the 
facts  on  the  same  grounds.  What,  then,  does  the 
New  Testament  say,  and  is  it  rational  to  believe  it  ? 

The  first  question  relates  to  the  issue  with  the  faith- 
healers.  If  they  performed  such  works  as  are  recorded 
of  Jesus  Christ,  a  writer  professing  to  believe  in  his 
divinity  would  be  compelled  to  admit  their  claims  to 
supernatural  assistance.  But  the  point  made  against 
them  is  that  they  do  not  perform  works  similar  to 
his. 

The  credibility  of  the  record  concerning  Christ's 
works  is  a  question  which  cannot  be  raised  by  Chris- 
tians, whether  they  hold  the  superstitions  of  the  faith- 
healers  or  not. 

It  is  conceded  that  probal)ly  no  such  sifting  of  tlu^ 

evidence  was  attempted  as  can  be  made  of  what  takes 

])lace  in  this  scientific  age,  that  there  was  a  j)redisp()- 

sition  to  accept  miracles,  and  that  the  ascendancy  of 

6 


62  FAITH-HEALING 

religious  teachers  was  maintained  largely  by  the  be- 
lief of  the  people  in  their  power  to  work  miracles. 
To  affirm,  however,  as  some  do,  that  there  was  no 
investigation,  is  an  exaggeration.  The  Jews,  who 
did  not  believe  Christ,  had  every  motive  to  examine 
the  evidence  as  thoroughly  as  possible.  Still,  we  pos- 
sess only  the  testimony  of  those  who  thought  they 
saw.  If  they  beheld  and  understood,  their  testi- 
mony is  conclusive ;  but  standing  alone  it  would  be 
insufficient. 

Yet  it  is  rational  to  accept  the  record,  although  we 
have  not  the  opportunity  of  seeing  the  miracles  or 
testing  the  evidence  by  scientific;  methods.  A  mira- 
cle of  wisdom  may  be  as  convincing  as  one  of  physi- 
cal force.  The  resurrection  from  the  dead  declared 
of  Jesus  Christ  could  not  be  more  contrary  to  the 
laws  of  nature  than  the  conception  of  such  a  life  and 
character  as  his  if  he  never  existed.  His  discourses 
are  as  far  above  human  wisdom  as  his  recorded  works 
transcend  human  power. 

The  prophecies  wiiich  the  Jews  then  held  and  still 
preserve,  taken  in  connection  with  their  character  and 
history  as  a  nation,  afford  a  powerful  presumption 
of  the  truth  of  the  narrative.  In  the  ordinary  course 
of  human  events  the  death  of  Christ,  after  he  had 
made  such  claims,  would  have  destroyed  the  confi- 
dence of  his  apostles  and  scattered  them ;  but  their 
lives  were  transformed  after  his  death.  This  is  inex- 
plicable unless  he  appeared  again  and  sustained  them 
by  miraculous  gifts. 

Of  the  effect  of  a  belief  in  the  teachings  of  Christ  I 
have  had  much  observation.  It  convinces  me  of  their 
truth ;  for  what  reforms  human  nature,  developing  all 
that  is  good,  sustaining  it  in  the  endeavor  to  suppress 
what  is  evil,  supporting  it  in  the  difficulties  of  life, 
and  illuminating  death  with  a  loftier  ho})e  than  life 


FAITH-HEALING  63 

had  ever  allowed,  furnishes  evidence  of  its  truth,  not 
in  the  scientific  method,  but  in  a  manner  equally  con- 
vincing. Because  the  record  of  miraculous  facts  con- 
cerning Christ  is  inseparably  connected  with  these 
teachings,  it  is  rational  to  believe  it. 

Later  ages  have  had  no  experience  of  the  ways  of 
God  in  making  special  revelations  to  men ;  but  these 
things  were  performed  for  such  a  purpose.  To  allege 
the  experience  of  modern  times  against  the  credibility 
of  extraordinary  events  then  appears  no  less  unphilo- 
sophical  than  to  bring  forward  that  record  in  favor 
of  miracles  now. 

Fai'aday,  "  the  father  of  modern  experimental  chem- 
istry," began  his  celebrated  lecture  on  the  Education 
of  the  Judgment  thus : 

Before  entering  upon  the  subject,  I  must  make  one  distinc- 
tion, which,  however  it  may  appear  to  others,  is  to  mo  of  the 
utmost  importance.  High  as  man  is  pbiced  above  the  crea- 
tures around  him,  there  is  a  higher  and  far  more  exalted  posi- 
tion within  his  view;  and  the  ways  are  infinite  in  which  ho 
occupies  liis  thoughts  about  the  fears  or  hopes  or  expectations 
of  a  future  life.  I  believe  that  the  truth  of  that  future  cannot 
be  brought  to  his  knowledge  by  any  exertion  of  his  mental 
powers,  however  exalted  they  may  be ;  that  it  is  made  known 
to  him  by  other  teaching  than  his  own,  and  is  received  through 
simple  belief  of  the  testimony  given.  Let  no  one  suppose  for  a 
moment  that  the  self-education  I  am  about  to  commend  in  re- 
spect of  the  things  of  this  life  extends  to  any  considerations  of 
the  hope  set  before  us,  as  if  man  by  reasoning  could  find  out 
God.  It  would  be  improper  here  to  enter  upon  this  subject  fur- 
ther than  to  claim  an  absolute  distinction  between  religious 
and  ordinary  V>elicf.  I  shall  be  reproached  with  the  weakness 
of  refusing  to  apply  those  mental  operations  which  I  think  good 
in  respect  of  high  things  to  the  very  highest.  I  am  content  to 
bear  tlie  reproach.  Yet,  even  in  earthly  matters,  I  believe  that 
the  invisible  things  of  him  from  tiie  creation  of  the  world  are 
clearly  soon,  being  understood  by  tlio  things  that  are  made, 
even  his  eternal  power  and  Godhead;  and  I  have  never  seen 
anything  incompatible  between  those  things  of  man  which  can 


64  faith-hi:aling 

be  known  by  the  spirit  of  man  which  is  within  him,  and  those 
higher  things  concerning  his  future  which  he  cannot  know  by 
that  spirit. 

I  would  not  shield  myseK  behind  a  great  name 
from  the  charge  of  inconsistency,  but  have  brought 
forward  this  passage  because  it  states,  what  the  life 
of  Faraday  illustrated ; — the  compatibility  of  intense 
devotion  to  the  scientific  method  in  its  proper  sphere, 
with  a  full  recognition  of  its  limitations,  of  the  value 
of  moral  evidence,  and  of  the  difference  between 
grounds  of  belief  in  nature  and  revelation. 


ASTROLOGY,   DIVINATION, 
AND  COINCIDENCES 


IT  is  incorrect  to  suppose  that  astrolof^  has  no  vo- 
taries at  the  present  time.  Zadkiel's  Almanac, 
which  has  been  published  for  nearly  forty  consecu- 
tive years,  sells  more  than  one  hundred  and  twenty 
thousand  copies  per  annum,  and  it  is  not  a  publica- 
tion which  ignorant  persons  could  understand, — nor 
does  it  appear  to  appeal  to  that  class.  The  ''Satur- 
day Review"  for  July  4,  1863,  says:  ''Without  doubt 
there  are  a  million  of  people  who  have  some  sort  of 
confidence  in  Zadkiel;  certainly  there  is  ample  en- 
couragement to  them  in  the  countenance  afforded 
Zadkiel  by  the  great  and  wise  and  learned  of  the 
land."  This  writer  also  states  that  "  society  believes 
in  astrology."  It  is  quite  possible  that  this  is  exag- 
gerated, for  "  society  "  affects  the  study  of  all  strange 
or  new  things.  If  its  interest  in  a  passing  novelty 
or  new  aspect  of  something  old  should  be  allowed 
any  value  as  indicating  what  it  "  believed,"  it  might 
be  held  to  accept  almost  anything, 

I  should  not,  however,  think  it  a  prudent  economy 
of  effort  to  treat  astrology  merely  to  delay  its  final 
disappearance.  It  is  because  the  exhibition  of  its 
principles  and  methods  will  afford  us  almost  indis- 
pensable aid  in  accounting  for  and  explaining  certain 
conditions  of  current  thought,  that  it  is  worthy  of 
investigation. 

65 


66      ASTROLOGY,  DIVINATION,  AND  COINCIDENCES 

Goethe's  autobiograpliy  commences  with  these 
words : 

On  the  29th  of  August,  1749,  at  midday,  as  the  clock  struck  12, 
I  came  into  the  world  at  Frankfort -on-the-Main.  My  horoscope 
was  propitious :  the  Sun  stood  in  the  sign  of  the  Virgin,  and 
had  culminated  for  the  day  ;  Jupiter  and  Venus  looked  on  him 
with  a  friendly  eye  and  Mercury  not  adversely,  while  Saturn 
and  Mars  kept  themselves  indifferent;  the  Moon  alone,  just 
full,  exerted  the  power  of  her  refleetion  all  the  more  as  she  had 
then  readied  her  planetarj'  hour.  She  opposed  herself,  there- 
fore, to  my  birth,  which  could  not  be  aceomplislied  until  this 
hour  was  passed.  These  good  aspects,  which  the  astrologers 
managed  subsequently  to  reckon  very  auspicious  for  me,  may 
have  been  the  causes  of  my  preservation  ;  for,  through  the  un- 
skillfulness  of  the  midwife,  I  came  into  the  world  as  dead,  and 
only  after  various  efforts  was  I  enabled  to  see  the  light. 

This  mighty  intellect,  representing,  according  to 
Madame  de  Stael,  in  himself  alone  the  whole  of  Ger- 
man literature,  whose  knowledge,  insight,  sensibility, 
and  imagination  were  so  extraordinary  as  to  elevate 
him  for  all  time  to  the  highest  rank,  appears  to  have 
been  somewhat  under  the  influence  of  that  belief  in 
astrology  which,  from  earliest  ages,  had  dominated 
the  human  mind,  and  from  which,  at  the  date  of  his 
birth,  even  the  most  enlightened,  with  comparatively 
few  exceptions,  had  not  been  emancipated.  For  there 
was  scarcely  an  extraordinary  character  in  antiquity 
who  did  not  believe  in  astrology.  Hippocrates  and 
Galen, —  tlie  first  names  in  medicine, —  Pythagoras, 
Democritus,  and  Tliales  gave  it  credit.  Hippocrates 
said  in  substance  that  a  phj^sician  who  was  ignorant 
of  astrology  deserved  to  be  called  a  fool  rather  than 
a  physician ;  and  Galen,  that  no  man  should  "  trust 
himself  to  that  physician,  or  rather  pretender,  who  is 
not  skilled  in  astrology."  In  China,  Persia,  Egy])t, 
Greece,  and  Rome  it  was  universally  accepted,  while 
Chaldea  was  the  center  of  its  power. 


ASTROLOGY,  DIVINATION,  AND  COINCIDENCES      07 

There  are  many  references  to  it  in  the  Bible,  sucli  as 
"The  stars  in  their  courses  fought  against  Sisera," 
and  "  Canst  thou  bind  the  sweet  influences  of  Pleia- 
des, or  loose  the  bands  of  Orion?"  Tiie  Magi,  who 
came  from  the  East  following  the  star  of  Christ,  were 
astrologers.  From  some  passages  it  seems  probable 
that  Daniel,  who  accepted  the  office  of  Chief  of  the 
Magi,  studied  the  heavens  and  astrological  books. 
Only  when  the  astrologers  contradicted  the  direct 
revelation  of  God's  word  were  they  specially  con- 
demned. On  such  occasions  the  prophets  denounced 
them  :  though  seeming  to  admit  that  there  might  be 
an  influence  from  the  stars,  they  declared  that  they 
could  not  prevail  against  the  will  of  God — as  when 
Jeremiah  says,  "  Be  not  dismayed  at  the  signs  of 
heaven,  for  the  heathen  are  dismaj^ed  at  them " ;  or 
the  similar  injunction  by  Isaiah,  ''Let  now  the  as- 
trologers, the  stargazers,  the  monthly  prognostica- 
tors,  stand  up,  and  save  thee." 

The  ancient  poets  —  ^schylus,  Virgil,  Horace,  Ho- 
mer, and  many  others — rose  to  the  loftiest  strains 
when  praising  astrology.  In  more  modern  times  the 
chief  physicians  on  the  continent  of  Europe  were  as- 
trologers, some  of  them  most  famous.  One  was 
Cardan  of  Milan,  who  was  not  only  a  physician 
but  an  algebraist.  The  "Text-book  of  Astrology" 
gives  a  list  of  eminent  men  in  England  who  believed 
in  astrology, —  Roger  Bacon;  Duns  Scotus;  Baron 
Napier,  the  inventor  of  logarithms;  Tycho  Brahe; 
Francis  Bacon;  [?]  Kepler;  Flamstead,  first  Astron- 
omer Royal ;  Sir  Elias  Ashmole,  founder  of  the  Ash- 
molean  Museum.  Chaucer  was  also  a  believer,  and 
wrote  a  treatise  on  the  astrolabe.  John  Dryden, 
skilled  in  the  theory,  computed  the  nativities  of  his 
children,  and  foretold  certain  severe  accidents  to  his 
son  Charles. 


68    ASTROLOGY,  DIVINATION,  AND  COINCIDENCES 

Astrology  has  exerted  a  powerful  influence  upon 
language  and  literature.  Many  words  most  frequently 
used  are  derived  from  astrology  or  kindred  subjects 
— augur,  augury,  auspices,  the  common  word  talisman; 
and  especially  influence.  In  literature  appeals  to  the 
heavens  are  common,  as  well  as  references  to  stars  as 
sources  of  prosperity. 

Trench  says  we  seem  to  affirm  that  we  believe  that 

the  planet  under  which  a  man  may  happen  to  be  bom  will 
affect  his  temperament,  will  make  him  for  life  of  a  disposition 
grave  or  gay,  lively  or  severe.  .  .  .  For  we  speak  of  a  per- 
son as  "jovial,''  or  "saturnine,"  or  "mercurial" — jovial  as  being 
born  under  the  planet  Jupiter  or  Jove,  which  was  the  joyfullest 
star  and  of  the  happiest  augury  of  all ;  a  gloomy,  severe  person 
is  said  to  be  "  saturnine"  as  born  under  the  planet  Saturn,  who 
was  considered  to  make  those  that  owned  his  influence,  and 
were  born  when  he  was  in  the  ascendant,  grave  and  stern  as 
himself;  another  we  call  "mercurial,"  that  is,  light-hearted, 
as  those  born  under  the  planet  Mercury  were  accounted  to  be. 
Tlie  same  faith  in  the  influence  of  the  stars  survives,  so  far  at 
least  as  words  go,  in  "  disaster,"  "  disastrous,"  "  ill-starred," 
"ascendant,"  "ascendancy,"  and,  indeed,  in  the  word  "influ- 
ence" itself.i 

Or,  again,  do  we  keep  in  mind,  or  are  we  even  aware,  that 
whenever  the  word  "influence"  occurs  in  our  English  poetry, 
down  to  a  comparatively  modern  date,  there  is  always  more  or 
less  remote  allusion  to  the  skyey,  planetary  influences  supposed 
to  be  exercised  by  the  heavenly  luminaries  upon  men  ?  How 
many  a  passage  starts  into  new  life  and  beauty  and  fullness  of 
allusion,  when  this  is  present  with  us !     Even  Milton's 

store  of  ladies,  whoso  bright  eyes 
Rain  influence, 

as  spectators  of  the  tournament,  gain  something  when  wo  re- 
gard tliom — and  using  this  language,  he  intended  we  should  — 
as  the  lumiiuiries  of  this  lower  sphere,  shedding  by  their  i)ro- 
pitious  ])reKence  streiigtli  and  valor  into  the  hearts  of  their 
knights." 

1  Trench.  "  On  tlic  Study  of  Words." 
'^  Trench,  "  Enj,'lish  Past  and  Present." 


ASTROLOGY,  DIVINATION,  AND  COINCIDENCES     G9 

If  we  turn  to  Shakspere,  we  find  the  belief  molding 
some  of  his  most  beautiful  expressions: 

Comets,  importing  change  of  times  and  states, 
Brandish  your  crystal  tresses  in  the  sky. 

When  Romeo  and  Juliet  are  married  the  prayer  is : 

So  smile  the  heavens  upon  this  holy  act. 
That  after  hours  with  sorrow  chide  us  not. 

In  one  of  the  most  frequently  quoted  passages 
of  Shakspere  the  astrological  reference  is  generally 
omitted : 

In  my  stars  I  ara  above  thee  :  .  .  .  some  are  born  great, 
some  achieve  greatness,  and  some  have  greatness  thrust  upon 
them. 

From  Byron  astrologers  quote  a  fine  passage,  using 
it  as  though  he  were  a  believer : 

Ye  stars !  which  are  the  poetry  of  heaven, 
If  in  your  bright  leaves  wo  would  read  the  fate 
Of  men  and  empires  —  't  is  to  be  forgiven 
That,  in  our  aspirations  to  bo  great, 
Our  destinies  o'erleap  their  mortal  state, 
And  claim  a  kindred  with  you ;  for  ye  are 
A  beauty  and  a  mystery,  and  create 
In  us  such  love  and  reverence  from  afar. 
That  fortune,  fame,  power,  life,  have  named  themselves 
a  star. 

Dante,  writing  of  Mars,  says : 

With  him  shalt  thou  see 

Tliat  immortal  who  was  at  his  birth  impressed 
So  strongly  with  this  star,  tliat  of  his  deeds 
The  nations  shall  take  note. 

And  speaks  in  another  place  thus : 

Where  the  planets  roll 

To  pour  their  wished  influence  on  the  world. 


70    ASTROLOGY,  DIVINATION,  AND  COINCIDENCES 

Longfellow,  in  a  passage  whieli  has  touched  many 
a  parent's  heart,  says : 

O  child !  O  new-born  denizen 
Of  life's  great  city !  on  thy  head 
The  glory  of  the  morn  is  shed, 
Like  a  celestial  benison ! 

By  what  astrology  of  fear  or  hope 
Dare  I  to  cast  thy  horoscope ! 


WHAT   IS  ASTROLOGY? 

According  to  Zadkiel's  "  Grammar  of  Astrology  " 
the  science  consists  of  four  branches  or  distinct 
parts,  which  are  essentially  different  from  each  other. 
These  are:  Natimties,  Miindnne  Astrology,  Atmospheric 
Astrotogi/,  and  Horary  Astrology. 

Nativities  comprise  "  the  art  of  foreseeing,  from 
the  figurings  of  the  heavens  at  the  moment  of  birth, 
the  future  fate  and  character  of  individuals." 

Mundane  Astrology  is  ''  the  art  of  foreseeing,  by 
the  positions  of  the  heavenly  bodies  at  certain  peri- 
ods, the  circumstances  of  nations,  such  as  wars,  pes- 
tilences, inundations,  earthquakes,  etc." 

Atmospheric  Astrology,  Zadkiel  defines  as  *'  the  art 
of  foreseeing,  by  the  positions  of  the  planets  at  ilie 
periods  of  the  sun  and  moon  being  in  mutual  aspect, 
and  some  other  circumstances,  the  quality  of  the 
weather  at  any  required  time  or  place." 

Horary  Astrology  is  "  the  art  of  foreseeing,  by  the 
positions  of  the  heavens  at  any  period  when  an  indi- 
vidual may  be  anxious  about  the  matter,  the  result 
of  any  business  or  circumstance  whatever." 

Concerning  Atmospheric  Astrology,  which  is  mere- 
ly a  system  of  meteorology  based  on  the  theoiy  that 
changes  of  the  weatlier  are  ])r()du(u»d  by  \ho  influence 
of  the  planets,  I  shall  say  nothing.     IMundanc  Astrol- 


ASTROLOGY,  DIVINATION,  AND  COINCIDENCES     71 


ogy  is  in  some  respects  more  complex  than  either 
Nativities  or  Horary  Astrology. 

The  nature  of  the  influence  of  the  heavens  upon 
human  destiny  has  been  differently  represented  by 
different  astrologers,  some  claiming  that  the  heavens 
merely  exhibit  signs  of  events,  so  that  when  these  are 
properly  interpreted  the  future  can  be  foretold,  and 
others  holding  that  they  are  causes  of  the  events. 
Most,  however,  seem  to  believe  that  they  are  both. 

Astrological  calculations  are  made  by  means  of  the 
sun,  moon,  and  planets,  the  signs  of  the  Zodiac,  and 
the  various  aspects  and  relations  of  the  planets.  To 
work  the  problems,  a  "figure  of  the  heavens"  is 
drawn.  This  is  merely  a  map  to  represent  the  hea- 
vens at  any  particular  moment,  such  as  when  a  child 
is  born,  a  question  asked,  etc.  It  is  made  by  draw- 
ing three  circles  and  then  drawing  lines  to  represent 
the  horizon,  and  others  at  right  angles  with  them  to 
represent  the  meridian.  Thus  will  be  shown  the 
natural  divisions  formed  by  the  rising  and  setting 
of  the  sun,  and  by 
his  passing  the  me- 
ridian at  noon  and 
midnight.  Each  of 
these  quarters  or 
quadrants  is  to  be 
divided  again  into 
three  equal  parts, 
forming  the  twelve 
houses.  The  accom- 
panying figure,  from 
Lilly's  "  Introduction 
to  Astrology,"  exhibits 
tlie  method. 

In  calculating  a  nafiriti/,  the  horoscope  must  be  cast 
for  the  instant  the  chikl  is  born,  and  the  figure  show 
exactly  the  state  of  the  heavens  at  that  instant  as 


72    ASTROLOGY,  DIVINATION,  AND  COINCIDENCES 

viewed  from  the  place  of  birth :  the  signs  of  the 
Zodiac  aud  the  planets,  with  their  latitudes,  declina- 
tions, etc.,  have  to  be  determined,  and  the  figure 
when  completed  must  exhibit  all  these.  This  is  diffi- 
cult, and  cannot  be  done  without  the  knowledge  of 
astronomical  tables. 

Suppose,  then,  the  figure  completed ;  what  is  the 
method  of  judging?  Here  we  enter  the  most  in- 
teresting part  of  the  subject.  From  the  time  of 
Ptolemy  down  to  the  present,  a  system  of  signifi- 
cations has  existed.  These  significations,  which  have 
been  more  or  less  (changed  and  modified  by  the  va- 
rious astrologers  who  have  arisen  since  his  time,  are 
assigned  to  the  signs  of  the  Zodiac,  and  also  to  the 
planets  and  to  their  relations  to  each  other  and  to 
the  Zodiac.  Aries,  one  of  the  four  cardinal  signs,  in- 
fluences Britain,  Germany,  Denmark,  Lesser  Poland, 
Burgundy,  Palestine,  Syria,  and  Judea.  Astrologers 
go  so  far  as  to  specify  towns :  Naples,  Capua,  Flor- 
ence, Verona,  Padua,  Brunswick,  Marseilles,  Cracow, 
and  Utrecht.  Gemini  relates  to  the  northeast  coast  of 
Africa,  Lower  Eg;^^t,  Flanders,  Lombardy,  Sardinia, 
Brabant,  and  Belgium.  It  is  of  particular  interest 
to  us  because  it  rules  the  west  of  England  and  the 
United  States.  London,  Marseilles,  and  other  cities 
aLso  come  under  its  sway,  and,  the  "  Science  of  the 
Stars  "  modestly  says,  "  perhaps  Melbourne." 

Astrologers  hold  that  the  signs  of  the  Zodiac  affect 
not  only  nations,  but  individuals  —  that  Aries,  for  ex- 
ample, produces  a  .spare  and  strong  body,  of  stature 
rather  above  the  average,  face  long,  eyebrows  bushy, 
neck  long,  etc.;  while  Taurus  gives  a  middle  stature, 
thick,  well-set  body,  broad  forehead,  full  face  and 
prominent  eyes,  neck  and  lips  thick,  nose  and  mouth 
wide.  Aries  governs  tlu^  head  aud  face  of  nuiu  ;  and 
the  diseases  it  produces  (when  evil  planets  are  located 


ASTROLOGY,  DIVINATION,  AND  COINCIDENCES     73 

in  it)  are  smallpox,  measles,  riugworm,  apoplexy, 
palsy,  etc.  Gemini  governs  the  arms  and  shoulders. 
Its  diseases  are  braiu-fever,  croup,  fractures  of  the 
head,  arras,  etc. 

Certain  planets  are  called  malefics.  These  are 
Mars,  Saturn,  and  Uranus.  Venus  and  Jupiter  are 
specified  as  benefics.  A  planet  is  spoken  of  as  being 
afflicted  whenever  the  malefics  are  in  certain  relations 
to  it,  and  as  being  free  from  affliction  when  the  bene- 
fics are  in  these  relations.  Of  the  sun  they  say  that 
if  it  is  afflicted  at  birth,  the  tendency  is  to  destruction 
of  life.  In  order  to  have  great  prosperity,  both  the 
sun  and  the  moon  must  be  free  from  affliction ;  and 
if  both  are  afflicted,  the  person  will  have  a  life-long 
struggle.  If  the  sun  is  in  good  aspect  with  Mars,  the 
child  born  will  be  very  fortunate  in  war,  surgery, 
chemistry,  etc.;  if  it  is  in  the  zenith  and  free  from 
affliction,  he  will  have  a  great  public  career.  If  it  is 
rising  at  the  birth,  it  makes  him  bold,  courageous. 
and  proud.  But  if  it  is  afflicted  by  Saturn,  he  is 
liable  to  consumption  or  paralysis;  if  by  Mars,  he 
will  be  cruel  and  bloodthirsty,  unless  Jupiter  hap- 
pens to  assist  the  sun.  If  the  moon  is  properly  re- 
lated it  has  a  good,  but  if  otherwise  an  exceedingly 
bad,  effect.  Its  diseases  are  rheumatism,  consump- 
tion, palsy,  lunacy,  scrofula,  smallpox,  and  dropsy. 

There  are  certain  '* eminent"  fixed  stars,  to  which 
great  significance  is  attached.  Some  of  these  are 
Aldebaran,  Hercules,  and  Regulus.  Alfred  J.  Pearce 
predicts  that  when  ''tlie  martial  star  Aldebaran  (a 
Tauri),  of  the  first  magnitude,  shall  arrive  at  17  de- 
grees, 54  minutes,  Gemini,  700  years  hence,  there  will 
probably  happen  a  fearful  conflagration  in,  if  not  tlie 
total  destruction  of,  London."  This  is  safer  than 
anything  whi(;li  Professor  K.  Stone  Wiggins  has  as 
yet  attempted,  since  the  author  of  the  "Science  of  the 
7 


74    ASTROLOGY,  DIVINATION,  AND  COINCIDENCES 


Stars"  will  not  be  upon  the  scene  at  that  time  to 
rejoice  at  the  fulfilment  of  his  prophecy  or  to  mourn 
over  the  destruction  of  London. 

When  the  figure  is  completed,  and  the  positions 
and  aspects  of  the  planets  are  duly  marked,  prepara- 
tion is  made  to  form  a  judgment. 

The  exact  way  of  judicature  in  astrology  is,  first,  by  being 
perfect  in  the  nature  of  the  planets  and  signs  ;  secondly,  by 
knowing  the  strength,  fortitude,  or  debility  of  the  significators 
and  well-poise  of  them  (that  is,  the  various  rules,  directions, 

aspects,  etc.,  and  several 
mixtures  in  your  judg- 
ment) ;  thh'dly,  by  apply- 
ing the  influence  of  the 
figure  of  lieaven  erected 
and  the  planets'  aspects 
to  one  another  at  the 
time  of  the  question  or 
nativity.l 


To  make  the  proper 
calculation  is  a  work 
requiring  experience. 

The  above  is  the 
famous  figure  which 
William  Lilly  drew  to  decide  whether  Presbytery 
should  stand  in  England.  Zadkiel  adduces  this 
figure  with  the  judgment  pronounced  upon  it  as  a 
decisive  proof  of  the  science,  and  of  its  ability  to 
decide  the  most  important  questions,  but  public  and 
private. 

EVIDENCE    RELIED   UPON 

To  demonstrate  tlie  truth  of  astrology,  its  votaries 
appeal  to  tlie  histoiy  of  England  for  the  past  six 
1  Lilly,  "Intioduction  to  Astrology,"  p.  29. 


ASTROLOGY,  DIVINATION,  AND  COINCIDENCES     75 

hundred  years.  Aries  is  the  principal  sign  influen- 
cing England.  Saturn  is  a  malefic  planet,  and  they 
assign  various  coincidences  of  misfortune  to  England 
during  the  times  Saturn  was  in  Aries,  of  which  I 
give  a  few.  In  1290,  the  desperate  war  with  the  Scots 
was  waged  by  Edward  I.  and  the  English  army  de- 
feated at  Roslin,  near  Edinburgh ;  in  1378,  the  rebel- 
lion by  Wat  Tyler ;  in  1555,  Queen  Mary's  time,  277 
persons  burned  at  the  stake ;  in  1643,  civil  war  be- 
tween Charles  I.  and  Parliament.  The  whole  list  is 
remarkable. 

On  the  other  hand,  in  896  Jupiter  was  in  Aries,  and 
King  Alfred  beat  the  Danes ;  in  1215  King  John 
signed  the  Magna  Charta ;  in  1856  peace  was  signed 
between  the  allies,  and  the  Crimean  war  ended;  in 
1868  the  tide  of  prosperity  set  in. 

An  important  incident  is  related  to  the  United 
States.  Gemini  rules  the  United  States  and  also  the 
west  of  England.  The  rebellion  of  the  American 
colonies  coincided  with  the  transit  of  Uranus  through 
the  sign  Gemini ;  and  on  tlie  very  next  occasion,  as 
the  "Science  of  the  Stars"  points  out,  when  the  same 
planet  passed  through  the  same  sign,  1859  to  1866, 
the  American  civil  war  waged  four  years.  During 
the  same  time  the  west  of  England  suffered  fearfully 
from  the  cotton  famine,  nearly  a  million  people  being 
in  a  state  of  semi-starvation. 

Of  the  eclipses  in  their  relation  to  Mundane  Astrol- 
ogy the  following  illustrations  may  serve :  On  April 
10,  1865,  there  occurred  a  partial  eclipse  of  the  moon 
at  Washington ;  Jupiter  was  in  the  ascendant  in 
Sagittarius,  and  about  that  time  General  Lee  surren- 
dered to  General  Grant.  They  make  the  point  also 
upon  the  death  of  President  Garfield,  that  in  the  mid- 
heavens  of  his  horoscope  the  comet  B  appeared,  and 
that  this  same  comet  was  seen  in  the  second  decanate 


76    ASTROLOGY,  DIVINATION,  AND  COINCIDENCES 

of  Gemini  on  the  22d  of  May,  and  on  the  2d  of  July, 
1881,  Garfield  was  shot. 

Another  class  of  coincidences  is  striking.  It  is 
claimed  by  astrology  that  mental  disease  is  likely  to 
occur  when  Mars  and  Satnrn  —  to  which  modern  re- 
search has  added  Uranus  —  are  at  birth  in  conjunc- 
tion, quadrature,  or  opposition  with  Mercury  and  the 
moon,  but  Mercury  more  particularly.  The  '*  Science 
of  the  Stars,"  from  which  we  take  some  of  these  co- 
incidences (quoted  by  it  from  another  work),  says : 
"It  is  by  no  means  asserted  that  insanity  always  or 
even  often  occurs  with  such  opposition;  what  is 
asserted  is,  that  it  rarely  occurs  without  it."  This 
proposition  should  be  scrutinized,  for  it  contains  a 
serious  if  not  fatal  weakness. 

There  are  nine  great  princes  notoriously  insane  or 
deficient  in  intellect,  upon  whose  birth  Mercury  or 
the  moon,  or  both,  will  be  found  to  have  been  afflicted 
by  Mars,  Saturn,  or  Uranus.  These  are :  Paul  of  Rus- 
sia, George  III.  of  England,  Gustavus  IV.  of  Sweden, 
Ferdinand  II.  of  Austria,  Maria  of  Portugal,  Char- 
lotte, Empress  of  Mexico,  Charles  II.  of  Spain,  Murad 
V.  of  Turkey,  and  Constantine  of  Russia.  Six  pei*- 
sons  of  genius,  born  under  the  same  configuration  — 
Gerard  de  Nerval ;  Alfred  Rethel,  the  painter  of 
"Der  Tod  als  Freund";  Agnes  Bury,  the  actress; 
Julien;  Paul  Morphy,  the  chess-player;  and  Pugin  — 
became  insane.  Four  distinguished  men  who  lost 
their  faculties  in  old  age  are  also  given  —  Swift, 
Southey,  Moore,  and  Faraday.  The  histories  of  the 
Bourbon  family,  as  derived  from  documents  now  in 
the  British  Museum,  agree  with  the  state  of  the 
heavens  at  the  time  of  their  births,  according  to  the 
theories  of  astrology;  their  misfortunes,  insanity, 
violent  deaths,  etc.,  are  too  well  known  to  need  re- 
capitulation.    Many  coincidences  between  the  aspect 


ASTROLOGY,  DIVINATION,  AND  COINCIDENCES     77 

of  the  heavens  at  her  birth 
and  the  events  of  her  career 
are  found  in  the  life  of 
Queen  Victoria. 

Lilly  predicted,  it  is 
claimed,  in  1G51  the  Great 
Plague  which  occurred  in 
London  in  1665.  The  ac- 
companying is  a  facsimile 
of  the  hieroglyphic  of  the 
Great  Plague. 

This  hieroglyphic,  as  ex- 
plained by  Zadkiel, 

signifies   a  gi-cat   mortality,  in 

which  the  vast  number  of  deaths  should  so  far  exceed  the  sup- 
ply of  coflSus  that  the  dead  should  bo  buried  in  their  shrouds, 
or  merely  stitched  up  in  sheets,  as  therein  rudely  represented. 


Lilly  also  predicted,  in  the  same  year,  by  means  of 
an  astrological  hieroglyphic,  the  Great  Fire  in  Lon- 
don, which  took  place  September  3,  1666. 

Zadkiel  says  that  the 
hieroglyphic  forecasting 
the  Great  Fire  may  be 
understood 

by  the  horoscope  being  intro- 
duced therein,  and  tlio  twins 
are  intended  to  represent  the 
sign  Gemini,  whicli  in  astrol- 
ogy is  known  to  rule  London, 
and  the  twins  are,  tliereforo, 
intended  to  denote  that  city. 
Their  falling  heailloiig  into  the 
firc^  signifies  the  extensive  in- 
jury to  be  done  to  London  by 
that  element  iifteen  years  af- 
terward. 


78    ASTROLOGY,  DIVINATION,  AND  COINCIDENCES 

The  astrologers  made  a  great  deal  out  of  these  hie- 
roglyphics, Zadkiel  affirming  that 

if  there  bad  been  only  these,  whereas  there  were  several  others 
equally  pointing  out  future  events  published  with  them,  they 
would  ever  remain  undeniable  monuments  of  the  author's  skill 
and  of  the  substantial  truth  of  the  science  of  astrology. 

Americans  cannot  but  be  struck  by  a  recent  extra- 
ordinary coincidence.  In  Zadkiel's  Almanac  for  1886 
occurs  the  following  prediction: 

Shocks  of  earthquake  in  the  77th  degree  of  west  longitude 
may  be  looked  for.  Great  thunder-storms  and  waves  of  intense 
heat  will  pass  over  the  States.  There  will  be  great  excitement 
in  America. 

What  are  the  facts  ?  The  terrific  shocks  of  earth- 
quake wliich  visited  Charleston,  S.  C,  Washington, 
Kichmond,  Augusta,  Raleigh,  etc.,  on  the  night  of 
August  31,  many  lives  being  lost,  took  place  in 
longitude  7G  to  78  degrees  west.  Waves  of  intense 
heat  passed  over  the  States  in  July  and  August,  the 
thermometer  in  the  middle  of  the  latter  month  in  St. 
Louis  rising  to  104  in  the  shade.  Coincidences  more 
or  less  striking  can  be  multiplied  indefinitely,  and  it 
was  by  observing  them  that  the  system  of  astrology 
was  constructed. 


ITS   PROBLEMS  MERE  PUZZLES 

Having  traced  the  influence  of  astrology  upon  lit- 
erature, stated  the  principles  of  the  science,  and  given 
an  impartial  outline  of  the  supposed  evidences  of  its 
truth  which  its  professors  advance,  it  is  now  neces- 
sary to  subject  those  evidences  to  examination.  For- 
tunately the  cases  adduced  are  of  historical  interest, 
and  a  discussion  which  otherwise  nii<rlit  be  tedious 


ASTROLOGY,  DIVINATION,  AND  COINCIDENCES     79 

is  closely  connected  with  the  progress  of  both  ancient 
and  modern  civilization. 

The  ancients  knew  nothing  of  the  two  great  planets 
Uranus  and  Neptune,  Yet  the  "Text-book  of  As- 
trology" asserts  that  *' the  influence  of  Uranus  is 
found  to  be  very  powerful  in  nativities,  when  he  is 
angular  or  in  aspect  to  the  luminaries."  Shortly 
after  this  planet  was  discovered,  an  astrologer  called 
on  au  astronomer  to  secure  his  calculations  of  tlie 
periodical  motions  of  Uranus,  stating  that  it  was  very 
probable  "  that  the  want  of  a  knowledge  and  use  of 
its  motions  was  the  cause  that,  in  judicial  astrology, 
the  predictions  so  often  failed."  The  planet  Neptune 
was  discovered  in  184G.  The  '*  Text-book  of  Astrol- 
ogy "  affirms  that  **  sufficient  time  has  not  elapsed  to 
enable  astrologers  to  determine  the  exact  nature  of 
Neptune's  influence  in  nativities";  yet,  the  writer 
says,  "until  more  experience  has  been  gained  as  to 
his  influence  in  nativities,  it  may  be  accepted  that 
his  general  character  is  fortunate,  and  that  persons 
born  under  his  sway  are  healthy,  good-natured,  and 
romantic."  "When  Mr.  Proctor  remarked,  a  number 
of  years  ago,  "astrologers  tell  us  now  that  Uranus  is 
a  very  potent  planet,  yet  the  old  astrologers  seem  to 
have  gotten  on  very  well  without  him,"  all  that  the 
standard  authorities  of  the  "Science"  could  reply 
was  that  "Democritus  maintained  that  more  planets 
would  be  discovered  in  succeeding  ages."  This  is  no 
answer  to  the  proposition  that  the  ancients  seemed  to 
succeed  in  total  ignorance  of  the  "very  powerful"  in- 
fluence of  Uranus,  and  the  possible  mighty  influence 
of  Neptune. 

There  are  three  fatal  defects  in  the  proofs  they 
offer:  {a)  Tiie  number  of  instances  investigated  is 
too  small  to  establish  a  law  of  cause  and  effect.  (/>) 
In  the  more  remarkable  predictions,  reasoning  upon 


80    ASTROLOGY,  DIVINATION,  AND  COINCIDENCES 

existiug  coutlitions  and  tendencies,  a  shrewd  guess  or 
a  mere  coincidence  can  account  for  the  fulfilment, 
(c)  In  the  most  striking  cases  there  was  ample  time 
for  the  culmination  of  the  operation  of  causes. 

When  William  Lilly  was  examined  by  the  British 
Parliament  on  his  prophecies  concerning  the  plague 
and  the  fire,  he  was  thus  addressed  by  Sir  Robert 
Brooke : 

Mr.  Lilly,  this  Committee  thought  fit  to  summon  you  to  ap- 
pear before  them  this  day,  to  know  if  you  can  say  anything  as 
to  the  cause  of  tlie  late  fire,  or  whether  there  might  be  any 
design  therein.  You  are  called  the  rather  hither,  because,  in  a 
book  of  youi's  long  since  printed,  you  hinted  some  such  thing 
by  one  of  your  hieroglyphicks. 

Unto  which  Mr.  Lilly  replied : 

May  it  please  your  Honors :  After  the  beheading  of  the  late 
King,  considering  that  in  the  three  subsequent  years  the  Par- 
liament acted  nothing  which  concerned  the  settlement  of  the 
nation's  peace ;  and  seeing  the  generality  of  the  people  dissat- 
isfied, the  citizens  of  London  discontented,  the  soldiery  prone 
to  mutiny ;  I  was  desirous,  according  to  the  best  knowledge 
God  had  given  me,  to  make  enquiry  by  the  art  I  studied,  wliat 
might,  fi'om  that  time,  happen  unto  Parliament  and  the  nation 
in  general.  At  last,  having  satisfied  myself  as  well  as  I  could, 
and  perfected  myself  as  well  as  I  could,  and  perfected  ray  judg- 
ment therein,  I  thought  it  most  convenient  to  signify  my  inten- 
tions and  conceptions  thereof  in  forms,  shapes,  types,  hiero- 
glyphicks, etc.,  without  any  commentary,  that  so  my  judgment 
miglit  be  concealed  from  the  vulgar,  and  made  manifest  only 
unto  the  wise ;  I  herein  imitating  the  examples  of  many  wise 
philosophers  who  had  done  the  like.  Having  found.  Sir,  that 
tlio  city  of  London  would  be  sadly  afllicted  witli  a  great  plague, 
and  not  long  after  with  an  exorbitant  fire,  I  framed  these  two 
liieroglyphicks,  as  represented  in  the  book,  whicli,  in  effect, 
liave  proved  very  true. 

"Did  you  foresee  the  year?"  said  one.  "I  did  Tiot,''  said  I, 
"nor  was  desii'ous;  of  tliat  I  made  no  scrutiny."  I  proceeded: 
Now,  Sir,  whetlier  there  was  any  design  of  burning  the  City,  or 
any  employed  to  that  purpose,  I  must  deal  ingenuously  with 


ASTROLOGY,  DIVINATION,  AND  COINCIDENCES     81 

you ;  that,  since  the  fire,  I  have  taken  such  pains  in  the  search 
thereof,  but  cannot  or  could  not  give  myself  any  the  least  satis- 
faction therein  I  conclude  that  it  was  the  finger  of  God  only ; 
but  what  iustrumeuts  he  used  thereuuto,  I  am  ignorant. 


Those  were  troublous  times ;  plagues  were  com- 
mou  in  Europe,  fires  of  frequent  occurrence,  and 
modern  methods  of  extinguishing  them  had  not  beeu 
invented. 

Lilly  did  not  pretend  to  have  foreseen  the  year,  or 
to  reflect  any  light  upon  the  instruments ;  yet  he  was 
constantly  ascertaining  "  who  stole  fish "  and  what 
had  become  of  lost  dogs,  and  affirms  that  he  never 
failed  in  questions  of  that  sort.  His  hieroglyphics 
could  have  been  applied  to  a  variety  of  events.  It 
would  have  been  easy  to  interpret  that  which  he 
afterward  declared  foretold  the  Great  Plague  as  sig- 
nifying murders  and  the  hasty  concealment  of  bodies, 
or  the  burial  of  soldiers  after  a  battle.  The  hiero- 
glyphic typifying  the  fire  could  have  been  applied  to 
any  other  of  a  hundred  things,  as  falling  into  a  fire 
might  be  made  to  illustrate  most  catastrophes. 

The  coincidences  in  English  history,  it  is  to  be 
noted,  consist  of  certain  events  drawn  from  a  period 
of  six  hundred  years,  which  events  occurred  during 
the  progression  of  Saturn  through  Aries.  Saturn 
remains  long  in  that  sign,  and  his  returns  are  sepa- 
rated by  a  considerable  time.  In  the  confused  his- 
tory of  England  during  those  six  centuries  there  were 
hundreds  of  battles,  and  great  events  were  numerous; 
yet  but  thirteen  of  these  having  an  evil  character  are 
produced.  English  history  furnishes  scores  of  disas- 
ters which  occurred  when  Saturn  was  not  in  Aries. 
In  like  manner,  Jupiter  is  in  Aries  every  twelve  years 
or  thereabouts ;  yet  but  seven  prosperous  events  are 
produced  from  1196  —  nearly  seven  hundred  years! 


82    ASTROLOGY,  DIVINATION,  AND  COINCIDENCES 

Those  mentioned  are  great  occurrences,  but  during 
the  sev^en  centui'ies  more  than  a  hundred  occurred 
when  Jupiter  was  not  in  Aries. 

It  will  be  observed  that  the  American  Revolution 
did  concur  with  the  transit  of  Uranus  through  the 
sign  Gemini,  and  also  that  the  next  time  that  planet 
passed  through  Gemini,  from  1859  to  1866,  the  great 
American  civil  war  raged  four  years.  But  the  pe- 
riod from  1784  to  1859  was  just  long  enough  for  the 
causes  growing  out  of  slavery  and  different  view's 
of  State  sovereignty  to  culminate  in  a  rebellion. 
Had  the  planet's  orbit  been  smaller  there  would  not 
hav'c  been  time  enough.  This  is  all  that  appears. 
The  astrologer  declares  that  during  the  same  time 
the  west  of  England  suffered  fearfully  from  the  cot- 
ton famine.  This  is  not  wonderful,  as  the  cotton 
came  from  the  South  and  its  ports  were  blockaded. 
Had  there  been  no  cotton-mills  in  the  west  of  Eng- 
land, or  had  the  war  begun  sooner  or  later,  they 
would  not  have  suffered  at  that  particular  tinu'. 


DEATHS  OF  PRESIDENT  GARFIELD  AND  LOUIS  NArOLEON 

The  death  of  President  Garfield,  considered  in  con- 
nection with  the  appearance  of  comet  B  in  his  horo- 
scope and  also  in  the  year  of  his  death,  is  merely  a 
proof  that  between  the  appearances  of  that  comet 
sufficient  time  elapsed  for  the  infant  to  grow  to  man- 
hood and  become  President  and  for  such  modifica- 
tions of  political  parties  as  then  existed. 

To  give  the  statements  concerning  mental  diseases 
value,  thousands  of  cases  should  be  adduced,  and  it 
should  be  proved  that  the  majority  of  those  who  were 
insane  were  born  under  siudi  aspects  of  the  henv(Mis, 
and  that  comparativtily  few  born  uiuhn-  otlier  signs 


ASTROLOGY,  DniNATION,  AND  COINCIDENCES     83 

lost  their  reason.  A  score  or  five  hundred  coinci- 
dences of  this  kind  are  not  sufficient  to  lay  the  foun- 
dation for  a  law. 

The  prediction  of  Zadkiel  that  earthquakes  would 
occur  in  the  77th  degree  of  west  longitude,  followed 
immediately  by  the  earthquakes  in  this  country,  ap- 
pears at  first  sight  verjr  remarkable.  Yet  to  read  all 
the  predictions  in  Zadkiel's  Almanac  for  1886  and 
compare  them  with  subsequent  events  is  sufficient  to 
dissipate  belief  that  there  was  a  foreseeing  of  those 
events.  The  Almanac  for  1886  predicted  for  England 
that  an  effort  would  be  made  to  abolish  hereditary 
peerages;  that  the  revenue  would  not  be  satisfac- 
tory; that  theaters  would  suffer;  that  the  school- 
board  would  be  in  bad  odor,  and  that  certain  of  its 
members  would  find  their  chances  of  reelection  very 
perilous;  that  some  public  buildings  would  be  de- 
stroyed in  Paris  by  fire ;  that  German  affairs  would 
become  entangled;  that  socialistic  proceedings  would 
cause  trouble  (a  thing  that  has  been  true  for  several 
years,  and  no  more  true  during  1886  and  1887  than  it 
had  been).  An  astounding  prediction  was  made  that 
there  would  be  "  some  trouble  in  the  Western  States 
and  a  good  deal  of  sickness,  and  that  the  President 
would  find  his  office  a  burdensome  one."  The  finan- 
cial condition  of  Mexico  was  to  be  bad.  In  Austni- 
lia  there  would  be  trouble  connected  with  railroads, 
and  serious  accidents  were  only  too  probable.  There 
would  be  a  great  outbreak  of  epidemic  diseases,  and 
naval  forces  would  be  increased.  In  Ottawa  the  Ca- 
nadian government  would  find  it  difficult  to  maintain 
peace  at  home  and  abroad;  and  in  Paris  the  Com- 
munists would  resort  to  violence  and  the  streets 
would  be  stained  with  l)l<)()d.  There  is  scai-ccly  a 
fulfilment  transcending  i]w.  results  of  ordinary  sa- 
gacity in  conje(;turing  future  events. 


84    ASTROLOGY,  DIVINATION,  AND  COINCIDENCES 

Much  was  made  of  the  prediction  of  Zadkiel  in  his 
Almanac  for  1853  of  the  fate  of  Louis  Napoleon. 
That  prediction  was  in  the  following  words : 

But  let  him  not  di-eam  of  lasting  honors,  power,  or  prosper- 
ity. He  shall  found  no  dynasty,  he  shall  wear  no  durable 
crown,  but  in  the  midst  of  deeds  of  blood  and  slaughter,  with 
affrighted  Europe  trembling  beneath  the  weight  of  his  daring 
martial  hosts,  he  descends  beneath  the  heavy  hand  of  fate,  and 
falls  to  rise  no  more. 

Some  of  this  language  is  extravagant,  but  as  a 
whole  it  may  be  considered  a  correct  description  of 
the  career  and  doom  of  Louis  Napoleon.  Yet  Zad- 
kiel was  not  alone  in  this  prediction ;  for  students  of 
French  history,  and  every  one  acquainted  with  the 
events  of  the  preceding  thirty  years,  anticipated  the 
speedy  downfall  of  the  Empire.  The  observations  of 
writers,  statesmen,  and  philosophers  concurred  in  the 
opinion  that  the  career  of  Louis  Napoleon  would  be 
terminated  by  revolution  or  foreign  war.  Tlie  world 
was  not  surprised  at  his  overthrow,  for  all  perceived 
that  he  lacked  the  genius  of  his  great  uncle,  and  that 
he  had  lost  the  power  to  fire  the  heart  of  his  coun- 
try ;  while  the  condition  of  France  financially  and 
morally  for  years  was  not  such  as  to  promise  success 
in  any  serious  conflict  with  any  one  of  the  great 
Powers.  At  the  time  of  his  fall,  "affrighted  Europe" 
did  not  tremble  beneath  the  weight  of  his  daring  mar- 
tial hosts. 

From  time  immemorial  the  different  characters  and 
histories  of  twins  have  been  alleged  against  astrol- 
ogy. Cicero  cpiotos  the  stoic  Diogenes,  who,  when 
contending  against  ilic  (^haldean  astrologers,  says: 

For  instance,  two  twins  may  resemble  each  otliei-  in  appear- 
ance, and  yet  their  lives  and  fortunes  be  entirely  dissimilar. 


ASTROLOGY,  DIVINATION,  AND  COINCIDENCES    85 

The  characters  and  careers  of  Jacob  and  Esau  are 
brought  against  them  by  Mr.  Proctor  and  others. 
They  answer  ingeniously  that  a  difference  of  five 
minutes  in  the  time  of  the  birth  of  twnns  may  imply 
such  a  difference  in  the  position  of  the  planets  as  to 
indicate  great  dissimilarity  in  their  careers. 

They  state  this  as  follows:  "It  is  well  known  to 
accoucheurs  that  the  intervals  between  the  births  of 
twins  vary  greatly ;  in  some  cases  three  or  four  min- 
utes, in  other  cases  hours  and  even  days.  Every  four 
minutes'  interval  brings  another  degree  of  right  as- 
cension on  the  meridian,  consequently  a  difference  of 
half  an  hour  in  the  times  of  birth  would  make  a  great 
difference  in  the  part  of  the  sign  of  the  Zodiac  ascend- 
ing (as  one  degree  in  arc  represented  one  hour  of  life 
in  directions)  and  would  alter  the  periods  of  occur- 
rence of  the  subsequent  events.  The  whole  sign  of 
Aries  only  takes  (in  the  latitude  of  London)  about 
fifty-two  minutes  in  ascending;  hence  it  is  evident 
that  a  difference  of  half  an  hour  might  give  Aries  at 
the  birth  of  one  child  and  Taurus  at  the  birth  of  the 
second." 

If  they  adhered  to  this  proposition  it  would  be 
more  consistent;  but  they  advance  in  proof  of  the 
truth  of  astrology,  in  all  their  books,  many  instances 
of  twins  having  similar  careers  when  it  was  impossi- 
ble for  them  to  procure  infallible  data  as  to  the  pre- 
cise moment  of  birth,  and  when  they  knew  there  must 
have  been  some  difference. 

This  subject  has  of  late  been  made  interesting  by 
the  manner  in  which  the  astrologers  of  England  have 
made  use  of  Francis  Galton's  monograph  on  the 
"  History  of  Twins."  Mr.  Galton  sent  out  circulars 
to  perscms  who  were  either  twins  or  near  relatives  of 
twins.  He  received  "about  eighty  returns  of  close 
similarity,  many  of  which  entered  into  instructive 
8 


86    ASTROLOGY,  DIVINATION,  AND  COINCIDENCES 

details."  From  these  replies  he  draws  various  cou- 
clusions,  such  as  that  ''  extreme  similarity  and  ex- 
treme dissimilarity  between  twins  of  the  same  sex 
are  nearly  as  common  as  moderate  resemblance."  He 
saj'S  that  when  twins  are  a  boy  and  a  girl  they  are 
never  closely  alike.  In  the  thirty-five  cases  of  great 
similarity,  there  were  seven  in  which  both  twins  suf- 
fered from  some  special  ailment  or  some  exceptional 
peculiarity.  They  were  liable  to  sickness  at  the  same 
time  in  nine  out  of  thirty-five  cases.  Eleven  paii's 
out  of  this  number  were  remarkably  similar  in  the 
association  of  ideas,  making  the  same  remarks  on  the 
same  occasion.  In  sixteen  cases  their  dispositions 
were  very  similar.  He  affirms  that  only  a  few  retain 
their  close  resemblance  through  life,  either  physically 
or  in  disposition.  Again,  he  says  that  it  is  a  fact 
that  "  extreme  dissimilarity,  such  as  existed  between 
Jacob  and  Esau,  is  a  no  less  marked  peculiarity  in 
twins  of  the  same  sex  than  extreme  similarity." 

Since  his  views  were  published  I  have  observed 
various  twins,  and  have  seen  some  instances  of  as- 
tonishing similarity,  but  in  other  children  of  the 
same  parents,  not  twins,  more  instances  which  could 
readily  be  accounted  for  by  heredity  and  the  influence 
of  similar  surroundings  and  nurture.  A  number  of 
instances  could  be  given  of  distinguished  men,  now 
living  or  but  recently  deceased,  where  the  physical 
and  mental  resemblances  between  them  and  their 
twin  brothers  are  no  greater  than  ordinarily  exist 
between  ])rothers.  Is  it  not  important  in  a  general 
examination  to  collect  with  ecjual  care  instances  of  as 
great  similarities  between  children  who  have  the  same 
parents  but  who  are  not  twins  ?  If  not,  no  light  can  be 
shed  on  an  extraneous  cause.  Ilannonies  of  disposi- 
tion, similarity  of  personal  appearance,  and  devotion 
to  each  other  throuy-h  life  have  been  seen  between 


ASTROLOGY,  DIVINATION,  AND  COINCIDENCES    87 

brothers  and  sisters,  not  twins,  more  frequently  be- 
tween sisters,  and  occasionally  between  brothers. 

Driven  to  concede  these  things,  astrologers  in  mod- 
ern times  have  been  compelled  to  say: 

We  do  not  deny  the  existence  of  many  difficulties  and  anom- 
alies, and  fully  admit  that  astral  science  is  incompetent  to  ex- 
plain the  divergences  in  the  human  constitution  and  character 
without  a  free  use  of  the  doctrine  of  heredity.  Our  contention 
is  that  the  two  theories  complete  each  other,  the  latter  account- 
ing for  the  element  of  stability,  the  former  for  the  element  of 
variability.! 

An  illustration  of  the  wild  manner  in  which  a  per- 
son competent  to  edit  Zadkiel's  Almanac  may  reason 
can  be  found  in  the  "Text-book  of  Astrology,"  p.  164 : 

Astrologers  find  that  unless  Mars  afflicts  either  the  ascendant 
or  luminaries  at  birth  (or  in  the  fatal  train  of  directions)  there 
is  no  liability  to  take  the  smallpox. 

How  this  can  be  ascertained  without  an  acquain- 
tance with  the  nativities  of  an  immense  number  of 
persons  and  their  histories  in  relation  to  smallpox  is 
not  set  forth.  The  investigation  is  so  diflBcult  that 
they  could  not  possibly  show  that  every  person  who 
ever  took  smallpox  was  born  when  Mars  was  in  a 
certain  relation  to  the  birth.  They  are  not  kind 
enough  to  inform  us  whether  the  vaccination  of  per- 
sons born  under  these  circumstances  would  or  would 
not  "take."  They  ma}'  hereafter  carry  it  a  little 
farther,  and  dispose  of  the  liability  to  hydrophobia, 
cholera,  yellow  fever,  etc.,  in  a  similar  way ! 

Here  is  another  case  from  the  same  source.  An 
individual  was  born  when  the  sun  and  moon  were 
evilly  configurated  with  Saturn  and  had  no  assis- 
tance from  Jupiter.     In   harmony  with  theories  of 

1  Wilson,  "  Dictionary  of  Astrology." 


88    ASTROLOGY,  DIVINATION,  AND  COINCIDENCES 

astrology,  he  did  not  prosper  in  Great  Britain,  but 
af  terwai'd  went  to  Australia,  where  he  became  one 
of  the  wealthiest  and  most  highly  respected  citizens 
of  Melbourne.  How  is  this  explained?  It  is  suffi- 
ciently easy: 

At  his  birth  the  planets  Mercury,  Venus,  and  Jupiter  were 
located  in  the  fourth  house  (the  northern  an^jle).  By  crossing 
the  equator,  and  pitching  his  tent  in  a  southern  latitude  (38°), 
he  inverted  his  horoscope  and  thereby  brought  the  henejics  nearly 
to  zenith. 

When  one  declines  to  believe  in  astrology,  he  is 
disposed  of  without  difficulty.  For  example,  Luther 
condemned  astrology.  The  "  Text-book  "  says,  per- 
haps this  was  owiug  to  the  very  evil  horoscope  as- 
signed to  him  by  the  great  Cardan,  and  observes  that 
Melanchthon  believed  in  it,  and  that  ^'phrenologists  [!] 
will  understand  that  Melanehtlion's  judgment  on  a 
scientific  subject  is  entitled  to  far  greater  weight 
than  Luthei^'s." 


DIYIXATION 

Astrologers  maintain  tliat  if  the  coincidences  had 
not  been  suffi(nent  in  number  and  character  to  prove 
an  intimate  connection  between  the  stars  and  the 
fate  of  men,  it  would  have  been  impossible  to  main- 
tain faith  in  their  system  through  so  many  ages. 
This  claim  is  shown  to  be  worthless  by  an  examina- 
tion of  divination  in  general.  In  all  countries  and 
times  this  superstition  has  been  practised,  and  to  this 
day  maintains  itself  in  Asia  and  in  various  parts  of 
the  continent  of  Europe. 

Divination  was  practised  in  almost  innumerable 
Wiiys,  such  as  by  observing  the  flight  of  birds,  called 
Augury  ;  the  living  human  body,  as  Palmistry;  dead 


ASTROLOGY,  DIVINATION,  AND  COINCIDENCES    89 

bodies,  as  Aruspicy,  the  inspection  of  animals  slain 
in  sacrifice;  Authropomancy,  the  examination  of  a 
dead  human  being;  by  fire,  Pyromancy,  of  which 
there  were  six  varieties ;  by  natural  phenomena,  thun- 
der and  lightning,  air  and  winds  and  water;  by  mir- 
rors and  glasses;  by  letters  and  figures;  and  by 
direct  appeals  to  chance.  Besides  these,  salt,  laurel, 
dough,  meal,  verses,  dreams,  and  consulting  the  dead 
were  used. 

All  these  and  many  other  methods  were  practised 
and  held  in  highest  reverence  by  many  poets,  philos- 
ophers, and  warriors  of  Greece  and  Rome  and  other 
ancient  nations.  Coincidences  as  remarkable  as  any 
that  astrologers  boast  followed  the  predictions  of  the 
diviners,  and  by  these  faith  was  maintained.  In  case 
of  failure  they  quibbled  and  equivocated,  after  the 
manner  of  astrologers. 

Cicero's  treatise  ''  On  Divination,"  though  written 
so  long  ago,  exhausts  the  subject.  That  renowned 
work  is  frequently  so  misquoted  as  to  place  the  au- 
thority of  Cicero  in  favor  of  divination.  There  is  an 
introduction,  in  which  Cicero  declares  that — 

It  is  an  old  opinion  derived  as  far  back  as  from  the  heroic  times, 
and  confirmed  by  the  unanimous  agreement  of  the  Roman  peo- 
ple, and  indeed  of  all  nations,  that  there  is  a  species  of  divina- 
tion in  existence  among  men  which  tlio  Greeks  call  fiavr/KT/;  that 
is  to  say,  a  presentiment  and  foreknowledge  of  future  events. 
A  truly  splendid  and  serviceable  gift  if  it  only  exists  in  reality. 

In  testing  this  opinion,  he  represents  a  discussion 
between  his  brother  Quintus  and  himself.  Quintus 
affirms  that  all  nations  have  believed  in  divination. 
He  asserts  that  when  the  statue  of  Plato,  which  stood 
on  the  top  of  the  temple  of  Jupiter,  was  struck  by 
lightning,  and  the  head  of  the  statue  could  not  be 
found,  the  soothsayers  said  that  it  had  been  thrown 


90    ASTROLOOy,  DIVINATION,  AND  COINCIDENCES 

down  into  the  Tiber,  and  it  was  fonnd  in  that  very 
place;  and  that  King  Deiotarus  never  did  anything 
without  taking  the  auspices.  An  instance  which  he 
emphasizes  is  told  of  Tiberius  Gracchus,  an  augur 
of  the  highest  reputation,  who,  when  two  snakes  were 
caught  in  his  house,  convoked  the  soothsayers.  The 
answer  which  they  gave  him  was  that  "  if  he  let  the 
male  escape,  his  wife  would  die  in  a  short  time ;  but 
if  he  let  the  female  escape,  he  would  himself  die :  ac- 
cordingly he  let  the  female  escape,  and  died  in  a  few 
days." 

One  of  the  most  striking  passages  concerns  the  ora- 
cle at  Delphi : 

Would  that  oracle  at  Delphi  have  been  so  celebrated  and  il- 
lustrious, and  so  loaded  with  such  splendid  gifts  from  nations 
and  kings,  if  all  ages  had  not  had  experience  of  the  truth  of  its 
predictions  ? 


Some  theologians,  who  should  know  better,  to  this 
day  quote  this  passage  for  their  own  purpose,  and 
attribute  it  to  Cicero. 

When  Cicero  replies  he  opens  with  metaphysical 
considerations,  maintaining  that  if  things  come  by 
chance  they  cannot  be  divined,  and  if  by  fate  they 
cannot  be  changed.  He  then  considers  the  inspec- 
tion of  the  entrails  of  victims,  and  says : 


Could  you  persuade  any  man  in  his  senses  that  those  events 
which  are  said  to  be  signified  by  the  entrails  are  known  by  the 
augurs  in  consequence  of  a  long  series  of  observations  f  How 
long,  I  wonder  ?  For  what  period  of  time  have  such  observa- 
tions been  continued  ?  What  conferences  must  the  augvirs  hold 
among  themselves  to  detennine  which  part  of  the  victim's  en- 
trails represents  the  enemy,  and  whicli  tlio  people  ;  what  sort 
of  cleft  in  the  liver  denoted  danger,  and  what  sort  presaged  ad- 
vantage t 


ASTROLOGY,  DIVINATION,  AND  COINCIDENCES    91 

On  the  subject  of  the  ox  without  the  heart  ho 
asks: 

How  is  it  that  you  think  it  impossible  that  an  animal  can  live 
without  a  heart,  and  yet  do  not  think  it  impossible  that  its 
heart  could  vanish  so  suddenly,  no  one  knows  whither  f  For 
myself  I  know  not  how  much  vigor  is  necessary  to  carry  on 
vital  function,  and  suspect  that  if  afflicted  with  any  disease,  the 
heart  of  a  victim  may  bo  found  so  withered,  and  wasted,  and 
small  as  to  be  quite  unlike  a  heart. 


He  then  tells  him  that  in  trying  to  prove  the  truth 
of  the  auguries  he  is  overturning  the  whole  system 
of  physics,  and  concludes  his  argument  in  these 
Avords : 

After  having  thus  destroyed  divination  by  the  inspection  of 
entrails,  all  the  rest  of  the  science  of  the  soothsayers  is  at  an 
end. 

Of  the  head  which  was  discovered  he  says : 

Oh !  But  a  head  was  found  in  the  Tiber.  As  if  I  affirmed 
that  those  soothsayers  had  no  skill!  What  I  deny  is  their 
divination. 

He  quotes  the  old  saying  of  Cato,  familiar  enough 
to  everybody,  that 

he  wondered  that  when  one  soothsayer  met  another  he  could 
help  laughing.  For  of  all  the  events  predicted  by  them,  how 
very  few  happened !  And  when  one  of  them  does  take  place, 
where  is  the  proof  that  it  does  not  take  place  by  mere  accident? 

Cicero  had  little  respect  for  tlie  oracle  of  Delphi. 
He  thus  attacks  it : 

I  now  come  to  you, 
Apollo,  monarch  of  the  sacred  center 
Of  the  great  world,  full  of  thy  inspiration. 
The  Pythian  priestesses  proclaim  thy  prophecies. 


92    ASTROLOaY,  DIVINATION,  AND  COINCIDENCES 

For  Clirj-sippiis  lias  filled  an  entire  volume  with  your  oracles, 
many  of  which,  as  I  said  before,  I  consider  utterly  false,  and 
many  others  only  true  by  accident,  as  often  hapi^ens  in  any 
common  conversation.  Others,  again,  are  so  obscure  and  in- 
volved that  their  very  interpreters  have  need  of  other  interpre- 
ters; and  the  decisions  of  one  lot  have  to  be' referred  to  other 
lots.  Another  portion  of  them  are  so  ambiguous  that  they  re- 
quire to  be  analyzed  by  the  logic  of  dialecticians.  Thus,  when 
Fortune  uttered  the  followed  oracle  respectiug  Cra3sus,  the 
richest  king  of  Asia, 

When  Crresus  has  the  Halye  crossed, 
A  mighty  kingdom  will  be  lost, 

that  monarch  expected  he  should  ruin  the  power  of  his  enemies ; 
but  the  empire  that  ho  ruined  was  his  own.  Whichever  result 
had  ensued,  the  oracle  would  have  been  true. 

The  use  I  make  of  divination  is  to  show  that  in  its 
diversified  forms  it  was  sustained  by  means  similar 
to  those  employed  by  astrologers,  and  exerted  the 
same  kind  of  influence  over  the  minds  of  men.  Its 
supports  were  the  occasional  occurrence  of  striking 
coincidences  which  the  superstition  of  the  people 
accepted,  while  they  were  prevented  from  carefully 
examining  the  whole  subject,  both  by  fear  of  the 
consequences  of  unbelief  to  themselves  personally, 
and  by  their  habit  of  mind,  which  was  in  all  respects 
the  reverse  of  scientific.  Also,  many  of  the  most 
powerful  intellects  were  paralyzed  by  the  opinion 
that  if  divination  were  given  up  belief  in  the  gods 
must  be  renounced,  and  from  that  they  shrank. 

Many  astrologers  and  diviners  were  undoubtedlj' 
wise  men,  acquainted  with  the  laws  of  physics  so  fjir 
as  they  had  been  discovered,  and  with  the  progress 
of  war  and  current  events.  They  were  as  able  to 
form  rational  conjectures  of  the  future  as  any  of 
their  contemporaries.  Some  were  masters  of  magi(% 
skilful  in  sleight-of-hand,  and  were  also  capable  of 
practising  ventrihxpiism.     When  they  exer(;ised  this 


ASTROLOGY,  DIVINATION,  AND  COINCIDENCES    93 

knowledge  and  these  powers  they  credited  it  to  as- 
trology or  to  the  method  of  divination  which  they 
employed.  As  Lilly  acknowledges,  they  saw  by  "  dis- 
cretion as  well  as  art."  The  knowledge  which  they 
possessed  in  common  with  others  of  equal  attain- 
ments, and  the  peculiar  skill  gained  by  long  prac- 
tice in  observing  the  probable  course  of  events, 
together  with  coincidences  with  casual  but  no  causal 
connection,  account  for  the  apparent  fulfilment  of 
astrological  and  similar  predictions. 

To  those  who  deny  this  there  exists  the  same  rea- 
son for  believing  in  the  various  forms  of  divination 
as  in  astrology. 

COINCIDENCES 

Suspicion  may  arise  that  this  theory  places  a  bur- 
den upon  the  possibilities  of  fortuitous  coincidence 
which  it  is  not  able  to  support.  It  is  therefore  neces- 
sary to  show  that  coincidences  are  far  more  frequent 
and  astonishing  than  is  generally  supposed. 

Coincidences  in  names  are  of  such  frequent  occur- 
rence as  to  be  familiar;  but  some  of  them  are  sur- 
prising. Daniel  Webster  married  Catherine  Le  Roy. 
Not  very  long  ago  in  Boston  a  suit  was  noticed,  the 
parties  to  which  were  Daniel  Webster  and  Catherine 
Le  Roy.  The  First  Unitarian  Church  of  the  city  of 
Baltimore  was  attended  for  more  than  forty  years  by 
a  gentleman  recently  deceased.  From  that  pulpit 
he  heard  discourses  by  Doctors  Furness,  Bellows, 
Sparks,  Burnap,  and  Greenwood.  Two  were  settled 
pastors;  the  others,  eminent  men  who  appeared  on  vm- 
rious  occasions.  Li  Guilford,  Conn.,  till  within  a  few 
year.s,  the  Second  Congregational  Church  had  had  )mt 
three  pastors  in  its  entire  history — Root,  Wood,  and 
Chipman.     This  society  resulted  from  a  disturbance 


94    ASTROLOGY,  DIVINATION,  AND  COINCIDENCES 

in  the  First  Church,  and  when  Mr.  Root  was  about  to 
be  installed,  one  of  the  members  of  the  First  Church, 
with  equal  bitterness  and  wit,  suggested  a  text,  "And 
I  saw  the  wicked  taking  root."  Not  many  years  since 
the  city  of  New  York  had  attention  drawn  to  the 
names  of  four  great  criminals  whose  names  contra- 
dicted their  characters  —  Charles  Peace,  who  had 
personated  a  clergyman,  was  hung  for  murder  in 
England ;  Angel  was  the  name  of  a  defaulting  cash- 
ier ;  John  Hope,  of  one  of  the  robbers  of  the  Manhat- 
tan Bank ;  and  the  Rev.  John  Love  was  deposed  for 
crime.  On  the  day  that  the  Hon.  John  P.  Hale  died, 
the  schooner  John  P.  Hale  ran  ashore  on  a  reef  called 
Norman's  Woe. 

Superstitions  concerning  dates  sometimes  exhibit 
remarkable  coincidences.  Thirty-three  sovereigns 
have  ascended  the  English  throne  since  the  time  of 
William  the  Conqueror,  every  month  except  May  wit- 
nessing the  coronation  of  one  or  more;  that  month, 
not  one.  In  the  lives  of  men  extraordinary  coinci- 
dences often  occur  on  j)articular  days  of  the  week. 
Friday,  commonly  counted  unlucky,  in  the  early 
history  of  the  United  States  seems  to  be  a  day  of 
good  fortune.  The  "Norfolk  Beacon,"  many  years 
ago,  gave  the  following  list  of  fortunate  events  in 
early  American  history  wliich  occurred  on  Fridaj^  : 

On  Friday,  August  3,  1492,  Christopher  Columbus  sailed  on 
his  great  voyage.  On  Friday,  October  12,  1492,  he  first  discov- 
ered land.  On  Friday,  January  4,  1493,  he  sailed  on  his  return 
to  Spain,  which,  if  he  had  not  reached  in  safety,  the  happy 
result  would  never  have  been  known  which  led  to  the  settle- 
ment of  this  vast  continent.  On  Friday,  March  15,  1493,  ho 
arrived  at  Palos  in  safety.  On  Friday,  November  22,  1493,  lie 
arrived  at  Hispaniola,  on  his  second  voyage  to  America.  On 
Friday,  June  13,  1494.  he,  though  unknown  to  himself,  discov- 
ered the  continent  of  America.  On  Friday,  March  5.  149(1, 
Henry  VIII.  of  England  gave  to  .John  Cabot  his  commission. 


ASTROLOGY,  DIVINATION,  AND  COINCIDENCES    95 

which  led  to  the  discovery  of  North  America.  This  is  the  first 
American  state  paper  in  England.  On  Friday,  September  7, 
1565,  Melandez  founded  St.  Augustine,  the  oldest  town  in  the 
United  States.  On  Friday,  November  10,  1620,  the  Mayflower 
made  the  harbor  of  Proviucetown ;  and  on  the  same  day  was 
signed  that  august  compact,  the  forerunner  of  our  present  glo- 
rious Constitution.  On  Friday,  December  22, 1620,  the  Pilgrims 
made  their  final  landing  at  Plymouth  Rock.  On  Friday,  Feb- 
ruary 22, 1732,  George  Washington,  the  father  of  American  free- 
dom, was  bom.  On  Friday,  June  16,  Bunker  Hill  was  seized 
and  fortified.  On  Friday,  October  7,  1777,  the  surrender  of 
Saratoga  was  made,  which  had  such  power  and  influence  in 
inducing  France  to  declare  for  our  cause.  On  Friday,  Septem- 
ber 22,  1780,  the  treason  of  Arnold  was  laid  bare,  which  saved 
us  from  destinxction.  On  Friday,  October  19, 1781,  the  surren- 
der of  Yorktown,  the  crowning  glory  of  the  American  arras, 
occurred.  On  Friday,  June  7, 1776,  the  motion  in  Congress  was 
made  by  John  Adams,  seconded  by  Richard  Henry  Lee,  that 
the  United  Colonies  were,  and  of  right  ought  to  be,  free  and 
independent.  Thus,  by  numerous  examples,  we  see  tliat,  how- 
ever it  may  be  with  foreign  nations,  Americans  never  need 
dread  to  begin  on  Friday  any  undertaking,  however  momentous 
it  may  be. 

Impressive  coincidences  have  occurred  in  the  words 
of  parts  performed  by  actors  in  their  last  appearance 
on  the  stage  previous  to  death  or  attacks  of  fatal  ill- 
ness. The  same  is  true  of  clergymen  whose  texts  for 
their  last  sermons,  and  frequently  the  very  words  which 
they  uttered  before  being  stricken  with  paralysis  or 
apoplexy,  have  been  singTilarly  appropriate.  An  ap- 
palling instance  occurred  in  a  certain  church  near 
New  York.  Nearly  fifty  years  ago,  its  pastor  stood 
in  the  pulpit  reading  the  stanza, 

Well,  the  delightful  day  will  come 
Wlien  ray  dear  Lord  shall  take  me  home. 
And  I  shall  see  his  face. 

At  this  point  he  was  smitten  with  paralysis  and  soon 
ceased  to  breathe.    Thirty -three  years  afterward,  an- 


9G    ASTKOLOGY,  DIVINATION,  AND  COINCIDENCES 

other  pastor  standing  in  the  same  pulpit,  reading  the 
same  stanza,  was  also  smitten  and  removed  to  die. 

In  marriages,  both  in  the  beginning  and  progress 
of  the  attaehment,  opportunities  that  are  called  cas- 
ual, or  coincidences  in  times,  places,  and  circum- 
stances of  meeting,  have  to  all  appearance  in  many, 
if  not  in  most  cases,  influenced  the  fate  of  the  ''  high 
contracting  parties  "  more  powerfully  than  anything 
which  they  had  intentionally  arranged.  Indeed,  many 
persons  troubled  with  misgivings  concerning  a  pro- 
posed marriage,  encourage  themselves,  by  recalling 
such  circumstances,  in  the  belief  that  it  was  "  meant 
to  be,"  or  that  it  was  "  providential." 

How  often  resemblances  of  persons  in  no  way  re- 
lated confuse  the  question  of  identity !  Detectives 
frequently  unravel  difficult  problems  by  their  skill 
and  sagacity,  but  owe  their  success  in  many  cases  to 
chance  coincidences.  Such  happenings  are  of  assis- 
tance to  lawyers,  and  by  them  desperate  causes  are 
saved.  Every  lawyer  of  large  practice  has  a  list  of 
anecdotes  of  this  sort  with  which  he  delights  young 
''  limbs  of  the  law." 

In  an  unsigned  article  appearing  in  the  "  Cornhill 
Magazine"  in  1872,  which  is  now  known  to  have  been 
written  by  Richard  A.  Proctor,  from  the  fact  that  he 
incorporated  it  nearly  all  verbatim,  without  quota- 
tion, in  his  last  work,  is  given  a  case  which  "relates 
to  a  matter  of  considerable  interest  apart  from  the 
coincidence."     I  condense  the  account. 

Dr.  Thomas  Young  was  endeavoring  to  interpret  the  inscrip- 
tion of  the  famous  Rosetta  Stone.  Sir  George  Francis  Grey 
phieecl  in  Dr.  Young's  hands  some  of  the  most  valiiahle  fruits 
of  his  researclies  among  Egyjttian  relics,  including  fine  s|)eci- 
mens  of  writing  on  papyrus,  which  he  liad  purchased  from  an 
Arab  at  Tliebes  in  1K120.  Before  this  readied  Young,  a  man 
named   Casati  iiad  arrived    in    I'aris    bringing  with   him  from 


ASTROLOGY,  DIVINATION,  AND  COINCIDENCES    97 

Egypt  a  parcel  of  Egyptian  mamiscripts,  among  which  Cham- 
pollion  observed  one  which  bore  in  its  preamble  some  resem- 
blance to  the  text  of  the  Rosetta  Stone.  Dr.  Young  procured  a 
copy  and  attempted  to  translate  it ;  then  Sir  George  gave  him 
the  new  papjTi.  He  discovered  that  this  document  was  a  trans- 
lation of  the  enchorial  manuscript  of  Casati,  and  says:  "The 
most  extraordinary  chance  had  brought  unto  me  the  possession 
of  a  document  which  was  not  very  likely  ever  to  have  existed, 
still  less  to  have  been  preserved  uninjured,  through  a  period  of 
nearly  two  thousand  years ;  but  that  this  very  extraordinary 
translation  should  have  been  brought  safely  to  Europe,  to  Eng- 
land, and  to  me,  at  the  very  moment  when  it  was  most  of  all 
desirable  to  mo  to  possess  it,  as  the  illustration  of  an  original 
which  I  was  then  studying,  but  without  any  other  reasonable 
hope  of  comprehending  it — this  combination  would,  in  other 
times,  have  been  considered  as  affording  ample  evidence  of  my 
having  become  an  Egyptian  sorcerer." 

Mr.  Proctor  regards  this  as  most  extraordinary. 

Such  coincideuces  are  not  uueommon.  About  fif- 
teen years  ago  seven  old  friends,  who  had  casually 
met,  were  dining  together  at  a  hotel  in  the  city  of 
New  York.  The  subject  of  spiritualism  was  intro- 
duced; the  extraordinary  ^'manifestations"  given  by 
Charles  Foster  were  discussed,  and  one  said, ''  I  don't 
believe  in  spiritualism,  but  the  blood-red  writing 
which  Foster  shows  upon  his  arm,  in  which  the  name 
of  a  deceased  friend  of  the  visitor  appears,  confounds 
me."  Having  investigated  the  subject,  I  ventured  to 
say  that  was  not  difficult  to  explain ;  when  another 
said,  "Oh,  yes,  it  has  been  exposed  in  the  United 
States  courts."  This  excited  attention.  He  then 
stated  that  Colchester,  a  medium,  was  famous  for 
producing  the  same  phenomenon,  and  that  the  inter- 
nal revenue  officers  had  notified  him  to  take  out  a 
license  as  a  juggler.  He  put  in  a  defense  that  he  was 
not  a  juggler, but  a  spiritual  medium;  and  that  those 
things  were  done,  not  by  his  own  personal  procui't'- 
ment,  but  by  sui)ernatural  beings.  Prior  to  this 
9 


98    ASTEOLOGY,  DIVINATION,  AND  COINCIDENCES 

time,  Colchester  liad  made  an  arrangement  with  a 
famous  prestidigitator  to  travel  with  him  in  Europe 
and  give  exhibitions  in  which  Colchester  was  to  per- 
form this  feat.  During  their  intimacy  he  explained 
to  the  professional  wizard  how  it  was  done.  After- 
ward Colchester  became  too  intimate  with  alcoholic 
spirits,  and  the  tour  abroad  was  abandoned.  The 
revenue  officers  had  become  aware  of  this,  and  the 
wizard  was  summoned  as  a  witness  for  the  Govern- 
ment. He  not  only  explained  how  it  was  done,  but 
did  it  in  the  presence  of  the  court  and  jury. 

Now  comes  the  strangest  part  of  the  story.  Three 
years  afterward,  while  I  was  in  a  furniture  store 
in  a  city  which  had  not  been  visited  by  mo  for 
several  years,  a  gentleman  entered  on  business  and 
the  proprietor  excused  himself  for  a  few  minutes.  On 
his  return  he  said,  ''  That  was  rather  singular  busi- 
ness on  which  I  was  called  away.      The  gentleman 

you  saw  is  the  famous  wizard .     He  wishes  to 

rent  furniture  for  use  in  his  performances  here."  I 
recognized  the  name  of  the  man,  whom  I  especially 
wished  to  see,  to  ascertain  whether  Colchestei-'s  meth- 
ods and  those  of  Foster  were  similar,  and  whether 
the  results  of  my  investigation  were  confirmed.  At 
my  request  he  was  recalled  and  performed  the  feat  — 
first  with  such  rapidity  of  action  as  to  invest  it  with 
all  the  mystery  which  perplexed  most  and  appalled 
some  of  Foster's  visitors;  afterward  more  slowly, 
explaining  the  successive  steps. 

Such  coincidences  occur  with  more  or  less  fre- 
quency to  every  student,  investigator,  or  i)r()fessional 
man. 

The  science  of  medicine  affords  many  examples. 
Ancient  remedies,  deemed  of  utmost  importance,  are 
now  utterly  discarded  ;  l)ut  they  were  long  suj)i>()i'ted 
by  coincidences.     Men  took  them  and  recovered,  the 


ASTROLOGY,  DIVDJATION,  AND  COINCIDENCES    99 

inference  bein":  that  they  were  cured  by  them.  Now 
wider  generalization  and  more  accurate  induction  es- 
tablish either  that  they  were  inert,  or  that  the  patient 
recovered  in  spite  of  them.  Great  modifications  have 
taken  place  in  the  most  enlightened  medical  opinion 
in  regard  to  the  use  of  water  in  different  diseases,  and 
the  relative  value  of  bleeding  and  the  occasions  in 
which  it  is  indicated.  The  growth  of  the  idea  that 
one  or  two  remedies  are  sufficient  for  every  disease 
is  one,  and  the  list  of  thousands  of  specifics  for  ten 
times  that  number  of  symptoms  another,  illustration 
of  deception  by  coincidence.  In  1813  Sir  Benjamin 
Brodie  published  a  work  on  diseases  of  the  spine  and 
joints,  lauding  the  advantages  of  calomel,  setons, 
blisters,  and  bleeding,  with  long  confinement  to  a 
recumbent  position.  In  1834,  in  a  new  edition,  he 
confirmed  what  he  had  enforced  twenty- one  years 
before.    In  1850  he  thus  recants: 

A  more  enlarged  experience  has  satisfied  me  that,  in  the  very 
great  majority  of  instances,  this  painful  and  loathsome  treat- 
ment is  not  only  not  useful,  but  absolutely  injurious.  For 
many  years  I  have  ceased  to  torment  my  patients  thus  afflicted 
in  any  manner. 


SO-CALLED  "  LAWS  OF   CHANCE  " 

In  the  realm  of  pure  chance  it  is  impossible  to  fix 
the  limits  of  coincidence.  Mr.  Proctor's  recent  work, 
"  Chance  and  Luck,"  quotes  from  Steinmetz  this 
fact: 

In  1813  a  Mr.  Ogden  wagered  one  thousand  guineas  to  one 
that  seven  could  not  bo  thrown  with  a  pair  of  dice  ten  successive 
times.  The  wager  was  acceptcMl  (though  it  was  egregiously 
unfair);  and,  strange  to  say,  his  opponent  threw  wrew  nine  times 
running.     At  this  point  Mr.  Ogden  oflfered  four  hundred  and 


100    ASTROLOGY,  DIVINATION,  AND  COINCIDENCES 

seventy  guineas  to  be  off  the  bet.  But  his  opponent  declined, 
though  the  price  offered  was  far  beyond  the  real  value  of  his 
chance.  He  cast  yet  once  more  and  threw  nine,  so  that  Mr. 
Ogden  won  his  guinea. 

Commenting  on  this,  Mr.  Proctor  says : 

Now  here  we  have  an  instance  of  a  most  remarkable  series  of 
throws,  the  like  of  which  has  never  been  recorded  before  or 
since.  Before  they  had  been  made  it  might  have  been  asserted 
that  the  throwing  of  nine  successive  sevens  with  a  pair  of  dice 
was  a  circumstance  which  chance  would  never  bring  about ;  for 
experience  was  as  much  against  such  an  event  as  it  would  seem 
to  be  against  the  turning  up  of  a  certain  number  ten  successive 
times  at  roulette.  Yet  experience  now  shows  that  the  thing  is 
possible,  and  if  we  are  to  limit  the  action  of  chance  we  must 
assert  that  the  throwing  of  seven  ten  times  in  succession  is  an 
event  which  will  never  happen. 

The  late  Astronomer  Royal  of  England,  Prof.  Airy, 
once  devoted  a  considerable  part  of  every  day  for  a 
week  to  tossing  pennies  with  special  reference  to  co- 
incidences. Dnring  the  time  he  had  a  rnn  of  twenty- 
eight  successive  "  tails."  By  the  law  of  chance  this 
could  not  occur  more  than  once  in  many  hundred 
millions  of  times. 

I  will  present  one  more,  which  I  think  will  justify 
the  assertion  that  no  coincidence  more  wonderful  has 
been  recorded.  The  article  was  found  by  me  in  an 
Italian  paper  while  Louis  Napoleon  was  in  prison  at 
Wilhelmshohe. 


THE  LETTER  M  AND  THE  NAPOLEONS 

Marbopuf  was  the  first  to  recognize  the  genius  of  Napoleon  at 
the  Ecolo  Militaire,  Marengo  was  the  greatest  battle^  gained 
by  Bonaparte,  and  Mclas  opened  to  him  the  way  into  Italy. 
Mortier  was  one  of  liis  first  generals,  Morcau  betrayed  him,  and 
Murat  was  the  first  martyr  in  his  cause.     Marie  Louise  partook 


ASTROLOGY,  DIVINATION,  AND  COINCIDENCES    101 

of  his  highest  destinies,  Moscow  was  the  abyss  in  which  he  was 
engulfed.  Metternich  conquered  him  on  the  field  of  diplomacy. 
Six  marshals  (Massena,  Mortier,  Marmont,  Macdonald,  Murat, 
Moncey)  and  twenty-six  of  his  generals  of  divisions  had  names 
beginning  with  the  letter  M.  Murat,  Duke  of  Bassano,  was  the 
counselor  in  whom  he  placed  the  greatest  confidence ;  his  first 
great  battle  was  that  of  Montenotte,  his  last  that  of  Mont-Saint- 
Jeau.  He  gained  the  battles  of  Moscow,  Montmirail,  and  Mon- 
tereau.  Then  came  the  assault  of  Montmartre.  Milan  was  the 
first  enemy's  capital  and  Moscow  the  last  in  which  he  entered. 
He  lost  Egj'pt  through  the  blunders  of  Menou,  and  employed 
MioUis  to  make  Pius  VII.  prisoner.  Malet  conspired  against 
him ;  afterward  Marmont.  His  ministers  were  Maret,  Monta- 
livet,  and  Mollien.  His  first  chamberlain  was  Montesquieu,  his 
last  sojourn  Malmaison.  Ho  gave  himself  up  to  Captain  Mait- 
laiid.  He  had  for  his  companion  at  St.  Helena  Montholon,  and 
for  his  valet  Marchand. 

If  we  examine  the  history  of  his  nephew  Napoleon  III.  we  find 
that  the  same  letter  has  no  less  influence,  and  we  are  assured 
that  the  captive  of  Wilhelmshohe  attaches  still  more  importance 
to  its  mysterious  influence  than  did  his  uncle.  The  Empress, 
his  wife,  is  a  Countess  Montijo ;  his  greatest  friend  was  Morny ; 
the  taking  of  Malakoff  and  of  the  Mamelouvert  the  principal 
exploits  of  the  Crimean  war,  —  exploits  due  chiefly  to  the 
French.  His  plan  in  the  Italian  campaign  was  to  give  the  first 
battle  at  Marengo,  but  this  was  not  fought  until  after  the  en- 
gagement of  Montebello  at  Magenta.  McMahon  received  for 
the  important  services  rendered  by  him  in  the  battle  the  title  of 
Duke  of  Magenta,  as  P^lissier  received  for  a  similar  service 
that  of  Duke  of  Malakoff.  Napoleon  III.  now  made  his  entry 
into  Milan  and  repulsed  the  Austrians  at  Melegnano. 

Aft«r  186G  the  letter  M  seems  to  have  become  for  him  a  pres- 
age of  misfortune.  We  pass  over  Mexico  and  Maximilian,  and 
take  the  present  war,  in  which  he  had  founded  a  vain  hope  on 
three  M's — Marshal  McMahon,  Montauban,  and  the  Mitrailleuse. 
Mayence  was  to  have  been  the  base  of  operations  for  the  French 
army,  but,  repulsed  on  the  Moselle,  his  fate  was  decided  upon 
the  Meuse  at  Sedan.  Finally  we  have  to  mention  the  fall  of 
Metz.  All  these  disasters  are  due  to  another  M,  the  enemy  of 
Napoleon  —  and  this  is  a  capital  M  —  Moltke. 

These  incidents  must  be  sufficient  to  show  that,  ex- 
chidinj^  wise  forecasts  and  self -procured  fnlfihneuts, 


102     ASTROLOGY,  DIVINATION,  AND  COINCIDENCES 

we  do  not  place  too  great  a  burden  upon  coincidences 
when  we  attempt  by  them  to  account  for  the  specious 
evidences  of  astrology  and  divination. 


IXTERPKETATION  OF   COINCIDENCES 

The  following  principles  concerning  coincidences 
will  be  found  reliable  as  working  laws : 

First.  As  a  general  proposition,  the  law  of  coinci- 
dences is  that  when  two  phenomena  always  coincide 
they  are  either  connected  as  "cause  and  effect"  or 
are  the  "  effect  of  a  common  cause."  But  if  they  do 
not  always  coincide,  neither  of  these  is  proved.  They 
may  then  be  the  effects  of  separate  causes  working  in 
their  respective  planes. 

The  first  question  is,  Do  the  phenomena  always  co- 
incide? The  importance  of  a  wide  generalization  is 
often  lost  sight  of,  and  erroneous  conclusions  are 
asserted  with  all  the  confidence  of  demonstration.  A 
physician  who  lives  near  the  sea  says  that  during  the 
past  five  years  he  has  noted  the  hour  and  minute  of 
death  of  ninety-three  patients,  and  that  each  has 
"  gone  out  with  the  tide "  save  four,  who  died  sud- 
denly by  accident.  Yet  about  thirty-two  years  ago, 
a  writer  in  the  English  "Quarterly  Review"  claimed 
to  have  ascertained  the  hour  of  death  in  2880  in- 
stances of  all  ages.  His  observations  show  that 
the  maximum  hour  of  death  is  from  5  to  6  o'clock 
A.  M.,  when  it  is  40  per  cent,  above  the  average ; 
the  next  during  the  hour  before  midnight,  when  it 
is  25  per  cent,  in  excess.  Between  9  and  10  o'clock 
in  the  morning  it  is  17^  per  cent,  above,  but  from  10 
A.  M.  to  3  P.  M.  it  is  IGJ  per  cent,  below  the  average. 
From  3  to  7  in  the  afternoon  the  deaths  rise  to  5^ 
per  cent,  above  the  average,  and  then  fall  from  that 


ASTROLOGY,  DIVINATION,  AND  COINCIDENCES    103 

hour  to  11  P.  M.,  averaging  6J  per  cent,  below  mean. 
It  is  probable  that  both  these  observations  are  worth- 
less in  view  of  the  small  number  of  instances  covered. 
It  is  clear  that  they  do  not  concur;  yet,  taken  sepa- 
rately, each  would  seem  conclusive. 

Second.  Astronomical  predictions  are  based  upon 
a  series  of  unvarying  coincidences,  in  most  cases  in 
harmony  with  laws  whose  operations  can  be  tested  at 
any  time.  If  these  phenomena  were  irregular  and 
unelassifiable  such  predictions  would  be  w^holly  un- 
certain;  but  because  they  usually  coincide, —  and 
when  they  do  not,  interfering  causes  can  be  traced, — 
eclipses  can  be  foretold  for  thousands  of  years  in  ad- 
vance, and  discoveries  such  as  those  of  Uranus  and 
Neptune  be  made. 

Third.  Chemistry  and  cognate  sciences  also  work 
with  fixed  phenomena,  so  that  when  the  most  diverse 
elements  are  combined  and  effects  observed,  formulaa 
can  be  deduced  by  which  at  all  times  the  same  effects 
can  be  produced. 

Fourth.  Many  of  the  most  wonderful  inventions 
have  been  made  by  seeming  accident ;  for  example, 
photography.  But  reflection  upon  the  accident  re- 
veals the  cause ;  the  cause  and  the  effect  are  seen  to 
be  scientific  coincidences,  and  the  art  with  its  prin- 
ciples and  practice  is  the  result. 

Fifth.  The  performances  of  jugglers  are  in  harmony 
with  the  established  methods  of  nature.  The  charm 
of  their  exploits  is  in  successful  concealment  of  the 
causes,  rapidity  of  motion,  distraction  of  attention, 
and  shrewdly  contrived  illusions  of  the  senses. 

Sixth.  It  is  essential  to  remember  that  so-called 
"laws  of  chance"  reflect  no  light  on  the  order  of 
sequence.  It  may  be  rendered  probable  by  thos(^ 
laws  that  a  certain  event  will  not  occur  on  tlie  aver- 
age more  than  once  in  a  million  of  times;   but  this 


104    ASTROLOGY,  DIVINATION,  AND  COINCIDENCES 

gives  no  assistance  in  determining  the  order  in  Avhich 
any  two  occurrences  will  take  place.  Thus,  if  it  be 
shown  that  an  event  will  occur  once  in  a  million  of 
times,  in  the  first  million  it  may  be  the  last  in  the 
series,  and  in  the  second  it  may  be  the  first ;  and  that 
will  bring  them  side  by  side.  Many  years  ago  there 
was  a  famous  lawsuit  in  New  England.  A  wealthy 
woman  died,  leaving  large  sums  for  benevolent  pur- 
poses, and  to  her  niece  —  already  very  rich  —  almost 
a  million  of  dollars.  The  niece  made  strenuous  ef- 
forts to  break  the  will.  A  codicil  was  produced,  the 
signature  of  which  was  found  to  be  exactly  like  an- 
other signature  of  the  testatrix.  It  was  hinted,  if 
not  explicitly  charged,  by  the  counsel  for  the  will 
that  it  was  a  forgery.  Professor  Peirce  of  Harvard 
University  was  brought  in  as  a  witness.  He  testified 
that  not  more  than  once  in  many  millions  of  times 
would  two  signatures  of  the  same  person  be  written 
precisely  alike.  From  this  it  was  designed  to  raise  the 
presumption  that  where  there  is  an  exact  coincidence 
it  must  have  been  done  by  tracing.  The  court  sus- 
tained the  will  on  other  grounds,  and  declined  to  de- 
cide that  question.  But  the  force  of  a  presumption 
of  this  kind  is  much  weakened,  if  not  destroyed,  l)y 
the  fact  that  all  to  which  Professor  Peirce  testified 
might  be  true,  yet  the  two  similar  signatures  might 
occur  in  the  same  month.  Mr.  Proctor  states  it 
thus : 

The  balance  is  restored  just  as  chance  directs.  It  may  be  in 
the  next  thousand  trials,  it  may  not  bo  before  many  thousands 
of  trials.  We  are  utterly  unable  to  guess  when  or  how  it  will 
bo  brought  about. 

The  business  of  life  insurance  can  be  carried  on 
with  certainty,  provided  the  system  be  constructed 
upon  averages  deduced  from  a  sufficiently  large  num- 


ASTROLOGY,  DIVINATION,  AND  COINCIDENCES     105 

ber  of  lives ;  but  the  employment  of  a  smaller  num- 
ber would  make  it  ruinous.  It  is  clear  that  *'  expec- 
tation of  life,"  so  called,  cannot  give  the  slightest  hint 
as  to  the  probable  duration  of  the  life  of  any  man 
insured  under  a  perfectly  reliable  system. 

Seventh.  When  a  phenomenon  is  seen  with  which 
human  beings  are  not  directly  connected  as  actual  or 
possible  agents,  and  which  appears  to  be  unlike  the 
course  of  nature,  it  should  be  studied  scientifically  to 
ascertain  its  cause.  By  such  investigations  every- 
thing now  attributed  to  natural  forces  has  been 
wrested  from  the  domain  of  superstition.  The  work 
began  almost  contemporaneously  with  the  beginning 
of  the  historic  period.  Its  results  are  now  the  inheri- 
tance of  the  school-boy.  He  understands  the  causes 
of  many  things  which  were  formerly  attributed,  even 
in  classic  Greece  and  Rome,  to  supernatural  inter- 
ferences. 

Eighth.  When  phenomena  are  presented  by  human 
beings  for  which  no  natural  cause  is  assigned  and 
none  appears,  the  first  philosophical  inquiry  is.  Is 
this  deception  or  jugglery?  Here  the  question  of 
moral  character  comes  into  view.  Has  this  person  a 
motive  to  deceive?  Is  his  character  such  as  to  raises 
doubts  whether  he  be  honest?  The  peculiar  influence 
of  that  phase  of  human  nature  which  loves  to  startle, 
to  be  regarded  as  extraordinary,  either  in  action, 
knowledge,  or  susceptibility,  and  the  strange  opin- 
ions and  morbid  conditions  which  give  fascination  to 
the  exercise  of  the  ability  to  deceive,  must  not  be 
ignored.  When  pay  is  received  for  such  perform- 
ances, the  probability  of  dishonesty  is  strong.  Tlie 
j)ossil>le  paralleling  of  the  phenomena  by  confessed 
jugglers  is  also  an  important  consideration. 

Assuming,  however,  that  no  ground  to  suspect 
jugglery  or  deceit  can  be  found,  the  next  question  is, 


106    ASTROLOGY,  DIVINATION,  AND  COINCIDENCES 

Do  the  phenomena  go  beyond  what  is  known  of  the 
possibility  of  chance  coincidences?  Not  until  it  is 
shown  that  legerdemain  cannot  produce  the  effects ; 
that  most  painstaking  inv^estigation  can  find  no  ex- 
planation and  no  antecedent  in  the  order  of  nature ; 
and,  further,  that  the  phenomena  transcend  the  pos- 
sible bounds  of  coincidences,  is  there  the  least  pre- 
sumption that  the  cause  is  supernatural.  Yet  compar- 
atively few  of  the  investigators  of  occult  phenomena 
have  taken  pains  to  comprehend  the  facts  and  prin- 
ciples of  natural  science  or  the  tricks  of  jugglers, — 
some  of  whom  have  been  masters  of  science, —  or  to 
comprehend  the  vast  possibilities  of  coincidence. 

It  should  not  be  supposed  that  common  sense  and 
learning,  without  special  experience,  qualify  persons 
to  investigate  these  things.  Yet  physicians  who 
would  sneer  with  just  contempt  at  a  non-professional 
person  who  should  attempt  to  give  an  opinion  on  a 
difficult  question  in  medical  science,  and  lawyers  who 
wonld  despise  a  layman  presuming  to  a})pear  a.s  a 
judge  of  abstruse  legal  questions,  and  ministers  who 
have  given  no  attention  to  methods  of  deception  or 
to  the  "  night  side  of  nature,"  will  join  with  mer- 
chants, teachers,  and  farmers  to  pronounce  upon  sub- 
jects much  further  removed  from  their  spheres  than 
are  the  pursuits  of  those  whom  they  call  "  laymen  " 
from  their  own ;  and,  because  they  cannot  see  how 
these  things  can  be  performed  or  explained,  will  give 
support  by  testimonials  and  affirmations  of  mystery 
to  every  new,  or  renewal  of  an  ancient,  superstition. 
Thus  astrology  and  divination  were  maintained,  and 
so  vast  structures  of  deception  at  the  present  day  are 
upheld. 


DREAMS,  NIGHTMARE,  AND 
SOMNAMBULISM 


A  COMPANY  of  intellectual  and  cultivated  men  and 
women  were  conversing  upon  some  of  the  more 
unusual  phases  of  human  nature.  Various  thrilling 
incidents  had  been  narrated,  when  a  dream  was  re- 
lated of  such  remarkable  detail — with  which,  as  was 
alleged,  subsequent  events  corresponded  —  that  it 
seemed  as  though  it  were  not  "all  a  dream";  and 
during  the  remainder  of  a  long  evening  similar  tales 
were  told,  until  it  appeared  that  all  except  two  or 
three  had  dreamed  frequently.  Finally  it  was  pro- 
posed to  ascertain  the  opinions  of  every  one  present 
on  the  subject. 

One  bluntly  said  that  he  did  not  believe  in  dreams 
at  all.  When  he  was  suffering  from  indigestion,  or 
was  over  tired,  or  had  much  on  his  mind,  he  dreamed; 
and  when  he  was  well  and  not  overworked,  he  did 
not,  and  ''that  is  all  there  is  in  it."  But  he  added 
that  there  was  something  he  could  never  quite  under- 
stand, and  gave  an  account  of  a  dream  which  his 
brother  had  had  about  the  wrecking  of  a  steamer, 
which  led  him  not  to  take  passage  on  it,  and  the  vessel 
was  lost,  every  one  in  the  cabin  being  either  seriously 
injured  or  drowned.  At  this  a  lady  said  that  she  had 
])('(*n  in  th(i  habit  of  dreaming  all  her  life,  and  nearly 
everything  good  or  bad  that  iiad  happened  to  her  had 
been  foreshadowed  in  dreams. 


108    DEEAMS,  NIGHTMARE,  AND  SOMNAMBULISM 

It  was  soon  apparent  that  thi'ee  out  of  four  did  not 
believe  dreams  to  be  supernatural,  or  preternatural, 
or  that  they  have  any  connection  with  the  events  by 
which  they  are  followed;  but  nearly  every  one  had 
had  a  dream  or  had  been  the  subject  of  one,  or  his 
mother,  or  grandmother,  or  some  other  relative  or 
near  friend,  had  in  dreams  seen  things  which  seemed 
to  have  been  shadows  of  coming  events. 

One  affirmed  that  he  had  never  dreamed :  he  was 
either  awake  or  asleep  when  he  was  in  bed ;  and  if  he 
was  asleep,  he  knew  nothing  from  the  time  he  closed 
his  eyes  until  he  awoke. 

Some  expressed  the  belief  that  minds  influence 
each  other  in  dreams,  and  thus  knowledge  is  com- 
municated which  could  never  have  been  obtained  l)y 
natural  means.  One  gentleman  thought  that  in  this 
way  the  spirits  of  the  dead  frequently  communicate 
with  the  living;  and  another,  a  very  devout  Chris- 
tian, remarked  that  in  ancient  times  God  spoke  to  his 
people  in  dreams,  and  warned  tliem  ;  and  for  his  part 
he  could  see  no  good  reason  why  a  method  which  the 
Deity  employed  then  shoiild  not  be  used  now.  At  all 
events,  he  had  no  sympathy  with  those  who  were  dis- 
posed to  speak  slightingly  of  dreams,  and  say  that 
there  is  nothing  in  them ;  he  considered  it  but  a  symp- 
tom of  the  skeptical  spirit  which  is  destroying  reli- 
gion. Another  agreed  with  this,  and,  turning  to  one 
of  those  who  had  stoutly  ridiculed  dreams,  said, 
''There  are  more  things  in  heaven  and  earth,  Horatio, 
than  are  dreamt  of  in  your  philosophy." 


HISTORY    AXD    niEXOMEKA    OF    DKEAMS 

In  this  paper,  by  dreams  is  meant  the  visioiis  whicli 
occur  in  natural  sleep;  by  n'ujldmarc^  a  dream  unusu- 


DREAMS,  NIGHTMARE,  AND  SOMNAMBULISM     109 

ally  intense,  involving  a  terrifying  sense  of  danger 
and  a  physical  condition  to  be  more  fully  described ; 
and  by  somnambulisnif  talking,  walking,  or  perform- 
ing other  actions  under  the  influence  of  a  dream 
attending  natural  sleep. 

Dreams  are  frequently  spoken  of,  and  in  almost 
every  possible  aspect,  by  the  oldest  books  of  the 
world.  In  the  Bible,  God  speaks  in  a  dream  to  Jacob 
of  the  increase  of  the  cattle,  and  warns  Laban  not  to 
obstruct  Jacob's  departure.  The  dreams  of  Joseph, 
unsurpassed  in  description  from  a  literary  point  of 
view,  and  of  Pharaoh,  with  a  history  of  their  fulfil- 
ment, occupy  a  large  part  of  the  first  book.  The 
dream  of  Solomon  and  the  dreams  of  Nebuchadnez- 
zar, the  warning  of  Joseph  to  take  the  young  Child 
into  Egypt,  are  parts  of  the  history  of  the  Christian 
religiou.  These,  being  attributed  to  supernatural  in- 
fluence, can  reflect  no  light  upon  ordinary  phenomena. 

But  the  Bible  distinguishes  between  natural  dreams 
and  such  as  these.  It  states  very  clearly  the  charac- 
teristics of  dreams.  The  hypocrite  "shall  fly  away  as 
a  dream,  and  shall  not  be  found:  yea,  he  shall  be 
chased  away  as  a  vision  of  the  night."  David  says, 
"As  a  dream  when  one  awaketh,"  the  Lord  shall  de- 
spise the  image  of  the  proud.  Solomon  speaks  of  the 
character  of  dreams  thus:  "For  in  the  multitude  of 
dreams  and  many  words  there  are  also  divers  vani- 
ties"; of  their  general  causes  he  says,  "  For  a  dream 
coraeth  through  the  multitude  of  business." 

Cicero  says  that  men  of  greatest  wisdom  among 
the  Romans  did  not  think  it  beneath  them  to  heed  the 
warnings  of  important  dreams,  and  affirms  that  in 
his  time  the  senate  ordered  Lucius  Junius  to  erect  a 
temple  to  Juno  Sospita,  in  com])liance  with  a  dream 
of  Cecilia.  Scipio's  dream,  philosophical,  imagina- 
tive, grand,  published  in  the  works  of  Cicero,  called 
10 


110    DREAMS,  NIGHTMARE,  AND  SOMNAMBULISM 

the  most  beautiful  composition  of  the  kind,  has  from 
its  origin  until  now  been  the  subject  of  discussion  as 
to  whether  it  was  written  by  Cicero  for  a  purpose  or 
is  the  veritable  account  of  a  dream. 

Almost  all  the  famous  characters  described  by- 
Herodotus  believed  that  dreams  are  of  supernatural 
origin.  Kings  resigned  their  scepters;  Cam  by  ses  as- 
sassinated his  brother;  priests  attained  greatness  as 
commanders;  cities  which  had  been  destroyed  were 
restored  by  men  who  changed  their  plans  and  per- 
formed these  acts  because  warned,  as  they  supposed, 
in  dreams;  and  with  the  invasion  of  Greece  by  Xerxes 
such  night  visions  had  much  to  do.  Plato  and  Socra- 
tes believed  in  dreams,  and  even  Aristotle  admitted 
that  they  might  have  a  supernatural  origin. 

There  are  those  who  affirm  that  they  have  never 
dreamed.  It  is  obvious  that  they  can  testify  only 
that  they  have  never  remembered  a  dream.  Their 
evidence  is  therefore  untrustworthy  as  to  the  fact  of 
dreaming;  for  it  is  known  that  recollections  of  dreams, 
as  a  general  rule,  are  very  imperfect.  Countless  de- 
tails have  fled  away ;  the  scenes  have  been  inextrica- 
bly interwoven.  A  dreamer  may  be  confident  that  he 
has  dreamed  hundreds  of  dreams,  during  any  given 
night,  yet  not  be  able  to  recall  with  distinctness  more 
than  one  or  two.  Besides,  observation  of  some  who 
declare  that  they  never  dream  has  demonstrated  the 
contrary ;  for  not  only  have  they  moved  in  ways  which 
indicated  that  they  were  dreaming,  but  talked,  and 
even  responded  to  questions. 

Upon  only  one  phase  of  the  subject  is  there  sub- 
stantial agreement  among  investigators;  namely,  the 
general  cliaracteristics  of  dreams.  Time  and  space 
are  annihilated,  and  all  true  estimates  confoundcMl. 
As  a  rule,  to  which  there  are  occasion:d  ex('e})tions, 
nothing  appears  strange,  and  impressions  wliich  would 


DREAMS,  NIGHTMARE,  AND  SOMNAMBULISM     111 

accompany  similar  events  in  the  wakinj:^  stiit<!  are  not 
made ;  or,  if  at  all,  so  slightly  as  not  to  produce  their 
customary  effects.  Identity  bein<]:  often  lost,  no  sur- 
prise is  produced  by  a  clianj^e  of  sex,  age,  name,  coun- 
try'', or  occupation.  A  young  lady  dreamed  of  seeing 
herself  in  her  coffin,  of  listening  to  the  observations 
of  the  mourners,  and  was  not  astonished  to  find  her- 
self dead,  nor  that,  being  dead,  she  could  hear.  She 
was  not  even  surprised  when  the  funeral  services 
closed  without  the  coffin-lid  being  shut  down ;  nor 
when,  in  a  very  short  time,  she  dreamed  of  being 
alive  and  engaged  in  her  usual  pursuits. 

But  the  moment  we  pass  beyond  general  state- 
ments of  this  character,  opinions  most  incongruous 
and  even  contradictory  are  held,  and  strenuously 
advocated,  by  representative  writers  in  every  pro- 
fession. ^ 

Nightmare  is  something  so  terrible  that  its  very 
name  attributes  its  origin  to  the  devil.    The  meaning 

1  Those  who  desire  to  see  the  opinions  of  leading  writers, 
ancient  and  modem,  down  to  the  year  1865,  and  have  not  time 
to  consult  them  in  their  own  works,  may  find  in  Seafield's 
"Literature  and  Curiosities  of  Dreams"  a  very  extensive  col- 
lection. This  work  has  been  criticized  as  containing  a  large 
amount  of  valuable  but  undigested  information.  The  criticism 
is  not  just,  for  it  does  not  profess  to  have  digested,  but  to  pre- 
sent all  for  the  digestion  of  others.  The  author  expressly  de- 
clares that  he  has  "foregone  such  chances  of  greater  credit  and 
importance  as  would  have  been  open  to  him  if  he  had  seemed  to 
claim  the  whole  as  original,  by  incorporating  the  several  the- 
ories and  anecdotes  with  textual  commentary  of  his  own." 

More  recent  investigations  of  great  presumptive  importance 
have  introduced  an  immense  amount  of  new  matter  into  the 
literature, and  considerable  into  the  "curiosities,"  of  dreams,  or 
at  least  of  dream  investigations.  Also  I  have  found  that  some 
of  the  passages  quoted  by  Seafield,  read  in  their  original  setting, 
or  compared  with  all  the  authors  have  said,  require  important 
modifications,  if  taken  as  expressions  of  mature  opinion. 


112    DREAMS,  NIGHTMARE,  AND  SOMNAMBULISM 

of  "mare"  is  an  incubus,  as  of  a  spirit  which  tor- 
ments persons  in  sleep,  In  nightmare  the  mind  is 
conscious  of  an  impossibility  of  motion,  speech,  or 
respiration,  a  dreadful  pressure  across  the  chest,  and 
an  awful  vision  of  impending  danger.  The  victim 
sometimes  realizes  his  peril,  gathers  all  his  forces, 
struggles  vainly,  and  endeavors  to  shout  for  help. 
At  last,  by  a  desperate  effort,  he  succeeds  in  scream- 
ing. If  then  some  friendly  touch  or  voice  awakens 
him,  the  vision  flees,  and  he  is  left  stertorously  breath- 
ing, perspiring,  and  more  tired  than  if  he  had  broken 
stone  or  worked  in  a  tread-mill  for  as  many  hours  as 
the  nightmare  lasted  minutes.  If  not  aroused,  he 
may  be  awakened  by  his  own  screams;  otherwise 
the  incubus  may  not  depart  for  a  period,  which, 
though  short  in  actual  time,  seems  like  ages  to  him. 
A  young  man  under  the  writer's  care  was  subject 
to  attacks  so  harrowing  that  it  was  excruciating  to 
be  in  the  room  with  him  during  the  paroxysm.  Some- 
times after  he  was  awakened  the  terrif^-ing  vision 
would  not  wholly  fade  away  for  three  quarters  of 
an  hour  or  more,  during  which  his  shrieks,  groans, 
appeals  to  God,  and  the  expression  of  unutterable 
agony  upon  his  face  were  terrible.  In  the  city  of 
Philadelphia,  a  lad,  having  been  exceptionally  healthy 
from  birth,  was  attacked  with  nightmare  when  four- 
teen years  old.  After  a  few  seizures  his  father  slept 
with  him,  for  the  purpose  of  awakening  him  shoukl 
there  be  occasion.  One  night  the  father  was  startled 
by  the  voice  of  his  boy  calling  in  terrified  tones, 
"Pop!  Pop!  I  'm  afraid*!"  He  felt  the  hand  of  his 
son  nervously  clutching  his  wrist.  Then  the  boy 
fainted,  and  died  instantly.  The  post-mortem  exami- 
nation showed  a  large  clot  of  blood  about  tlie  heart, 
caused  by  paralysis  due  to  fear.  There  is  reason  to 
believe  that  such  instances  are  numerous  enoiigii  to 


DREAMS,  NIGHTMARE,  AND  SOMNAMBULISM     113 

make  nightmare  worthy  of  serious  medical  iuvesti- 
gation. 

lu  nightmare,  as  A.  Brierre  de  Boismont  shows,  the 
incubus  takes  different  forms.  Sometimes  the  sub- 
ject fancies  he  flies  in  the  air.  He  gives  the  case  of 
a  distinguished  writer,  whom  he  had  seen  in  that 
state,  uttering  inarticulate  sounds — his  hair  bris- 
tling, his  countenance  full  of  terror.  At  such  times 
he  would  exclaim,  "How  surprising!  I  fly  like  the 
wind !  I  pass  over  mountains  and  precipices ! "  For 
several  seconds  after  awaking  he  still  imagined  him- 
self floating  in  the  air.  Others  skim  over  the  ground, 
pursued  or  threatened  by  dangers. 

In  childhood  and  youth,  according  to  the  same  au- 
thor, the  individual  is  upon  the  edge  of  precipices, 
about  to  fall.  In  later  years,  robbers  are  breaking 
into  the  house,  or  the  victim  supposes  himself  con- 
demned to  death.  Occasionally  cats,  or  other  ani- 
mals or  monsters,  place  themselves  upon  the  stom- 
ach. "The  weight  of  this  imaginary  being  stifles, 
while  it  freezes  the  blood  with  horror."  While  not 
every  ease  of  nightmare  is  attended  with  motion  or 
sound,  nightmare  passes  into  somnambulism  when 
the  victim  shrieks  or  leaps  from  his  bed,  or  makes 
any  motion. 

Somnambnlism,  in  its  simplest  form,  is  seen  when 
persons  talk  in  their  sleep.  They  are  plainly  asleep 
and  dreaming;  yet  the  connection,  ordinarily  broken, 
between  the  physical  organs  and  images  passing 
through  the  mind  is  retained  or  resumed,  in  whole 
or  in  part.  It  is  very  common  for  children  to  talk  in 
their  sleep;  also  many  arc  liable  to  mutter  if  thoy 
have  overeaten,  or  are  feverish  or  otherwise  ill.  Slight 
movements  are  frequent.  INIuny  wlio  do  not  fancy 
that  they  have  ever  cxliil)ited  tlu^  germs  of  soinnain- 
bulism  groan,  ci'y  out,  whisper,  move  the  hand,  foot. 


114    DREAMS,  NIGHTMARE,  AND  SOMNAMBULISM 

or  head,  plainly  in  connection  with  ideas  passings 
through  the  mind.  From  incipient  manifestations  of 
no  importance  somnambulism  reaches  frightful  in- 
tensity and  almost  inconceivable  complications. 

Somnambulists  in  this  country  have  recently  per- 
petrated murders,  killed  their  own  children,  carried 
furniture  out  of  houses,  wound  up  clocks,  and  ignited 
conflagrations.  A  carpenter  not  long  since  arose  in 
the  night,  went  into  his  shop,  and  began  to  file  a  saw; 
but  the  noise  of  the  operation  awoke  him.  The  extra- 
ordinary feats  of  somnambulists  in  ascending  to  the 
roofs  of  houses,  threading  dangerous  places,  and  do- 
ing many  other  things  which  they  could  not  have 
done  while  awake,  have  often  been  described,  and  in 
many  cases  made  the  subject  of  close  investigation. 
Formerly  it  was  believed  that  if  they  were  not  awa- 
kened they  would  in  process  of  time  return  to  their 
beds,  and  that  there  would  not  be  any  danger  of 
serious  accident  happening  to  them.  This  Avas  long 
since  proved  false.  Many  have  fallen  out  of  windows 
and  been  killed;  and  though  some  have  skirted  the 
brink  of  danger  safely,  the  number  of  accidents  to 
sleep-walking  persons  is  great. 

Essays  have  been  written  by  somnambulists.  A 
young  lady,  anxious  about  a  prize  for  which  she  was 
to  compete,  involving  the  writing  of  a  composition, 
arose  from  her  bed  in  sleep  and  wrote  about  a  sub- 
ject upon  wliicli  she  had  not  intended  to  write  when 
awake ;  and  this  paper  secured  the  prize.  The  same 
person,  later  in  life,  while  asleep  selected  an  obnox- 
ious document  from  among  several,  put  it  in  a  cup, 
and  set  fire  to  it,  and  in  the  morning  was  entirely 
unaware  of  what  she  had  done. 

Intellectual  work  has  sometimes  been  performed  in 
ordinary  dreams  not  attended  by  somnambulism. 
The  composition   of   "  Kubla  Khan "   by   Coleridge 


DREAMS,  NIGHTMARE,  ANT)  SOMNAMBULISM     115 

while  asleep,  and  of  the  "  Devil's  Sonata"  by  Tartini, 
are  paralleled  in  a  small  way  frequenth'.  Public 
speakers  often  dream  out  discourses:  there  is  a  clergy- 
man who,  many  years  ago,  dreamed  that  he  preached 
a  powerful  sermon  upon  a  certain  topic,  and  deliv- 
ered that  identical  discourse  the  following  Sunday 
with  great  effect.  Such  compositions  are  not  som- 
nambulistic unless  accompanied  by  outward  action 
at  the  time  of  dreaming  them. 


SEARCH  FOR  ANALOGIES 

Three  different  views  of  dreams  are  possible,  and 
all  have  been  held  and  strenuously  advocated.  The 
first  is  that  the  soul  is  never  entirely  inactive,  and 
that  dream-images  proceed  all  the  time  through  the 
mind  when  in  sleep.  Richard  Baxter  held  this  view, 
and  attempted  to  prove  it  by  saying,  ''  I  never  awaked, 
since  I  had  the  use  of  memory,  but  I  found  myself 
coming  out  of  a  dream.  And  I  suppose  they  that 
think  they  dream  not,  think  so  because  they  forget 
their  dreams."  Bishop  Newton  says  that  the  deepest 
sleep  which  possesses  the  body  cannot  affect  the  soul, 
and  attempts  to  prove  it  by  showing  that  impressions 
are  often  stronger  and  images  more  lively  when  we 
are  asleep  than  when  awake.  Dr.  Watts  held  the 
same  view,  and  devoted  a  great  deal  of  attention  to  it 
in  his  philosophical  essays.  Sir  William  Hamilton 
inclined  to  the  same  belief,  because,  having  had  him- 
self waked  on  many  occasions,  he  always  found  that 
he  was  engaged  in  dreaming. 

Baxter's  theory  is  an  assumption  of  which  no  ade- 
(piate  proof  can  be  offered ;  and  Sir  William  Hamil- 
ton's test  is  inad('(puite,  l)ecause  an  instant,  even  the 
minute  fraction  that  elapses  between  calling  a  man's 


116    DEEAMS,  NIGHTMARE,  AND  SOMNAMBULISM 

name  or  toiicliing  his  body  for  the  purpose  of  awak- 
ing him  and  resumption  of  consciousness,  may  be 
long  enough  for  a  most  elaborate  dream.  Sir  Henry 
Holland  fell  asleep  while  a  friend  was  reading  to  him. 
He  heard  the  first  part  of  a  sentence,  was  awake  in  the 
beginning  of  the  next  sentence,  and  during  that  time 
had  had  a  dream  which  would  take  him  a  quarter  of 
an  hour  to  write  down. 

Lord  Brougham  and  others  have  maintained  that 
we  never  dream  except  in  a  state  of  transition  from 
sleeping  to  waking.  Sir  Benjamin  Brodie,  in  speak- 
ing of  tliis,  says: 

There  is  no  sufficient  proof  of  this  being  so ;  and  we  have  a 
proof  to  the  contrary  iu  the  fact  that  nothing  is  more  comTnon 
than  for  persons  to  moan,  and  even  talk,  in  their  sleep  without 
awaking  from  it. 

The  third  theory  is  that  in  perfect  sleep  there  is 
little  or  no  dreaming.  This  is  supported  by  various 
considerations.  The  natural  presumption  is  that  the 
object  of  sleep  is  to  give  rest,  and  that  perfect  sleep 
would  imply  cessation  of  brain  action ;  and  it  is  found 
that  "  the  more  continuous  and  uninterrupted  is  our 
dreaming,  the  less  refreshing  is  our  sleep."  Recent 
experiments  of  special  interest  appear  to  confirm  this 
view.  Tlie  effects  of  stimuli,  whether  of  sound,  touch, 
smell,  sight,  or  hearing,  in  modifying  the  dreams 
without  awaking  the  sleeper — or  in  awaking  him  — 
all  point  in  the  same  direction;  aiul  though  there  is 
always  a  sense  of  time  when  awaking,  which  proves 
that  the  mind  has  to  some  extent  been  occupied,  in 
the  soundest  sleep  it  is  so  slight  as  to  seem  as  if  the 
person  had  just  lain  down,  though  hours  may  have 
passed.  Wlicreas,  just  in  ])ro))orti()n  as  drenms  ai'e 
remembered,  or  as  the  fact  of  dreaming  can  be  sliown 
by  any  method,  is  si-nse  of  time  longer.     I  do  not 


DREAMS,  NIGHTMARE,  AND  SOMNAMBULISM     117 

speak  of  the  heavy,  dull  sleep  which,  without  apparent 
dreams,  results  from  plethora,  accompauies  au  over- 
loaded stomach,  is  the  result  of  over-exhaustion,  or 
occasionally  supervenes  after  protracted  vigils,  but 
of  the  sound  sleep  enjoyed  by  the  working-classes 
when  in  health,  or  by  vigorous  children. 

The  most  interesting  question  is.  Can  a  theory  of 
dreams  be  constructed  which  will  explain  them  upon 
natural  principles,  without  either  the  assumption  of 
materialism,  or  an  idealism  akin  to  superstition  ?  It 
is  to  be  understood  that  no  phenomena  can  be  ex- 
plained at  the  last  analysis  ;  but  a  theory  which  will, 
without  violence,  show  the  facts  to  be  in  harmony 
with  natural  laws,  or  so  bring  them  within  the  range 
of  things  natural  that  they  are  seen  to  belong  to  a 
general  class,  and  to  the  relations  of  antecedents 
and  consequents,  is  an  explanation.  For  example, 
electricity  defies  final  analysis;  but  its  modes  of 
action  are  known,  and  even  the  greatest  of  mysteries, 
the  form  of  induction  which  now  surprises  the  world 
in  the  recently  invented  process  of  telegraphing 
from  moving  trains,  is  as  susceptible  of  this  kind  of 
explanation  as  the  action  of  steam  in  propelling  a 
train. 

We  begin  with  analogies,  and  find  these  in  the  ef- 
fect of  drugs,  such  as  opium,  alcohol,  nitrous-oxid 
gas,  hashish,  etc.  De  Quincey  describes  all  the  ex- 
periences of  dreams,  both  before  and  after  he  entered 
into  a  state  of  sleep,  as  resulting  from  the  use  of 
opium ;  and  the  peculiar  sleep  produced  by  that  drug 
is  attended  by  dreams  marked  by  all  the  characteris- 
tics of  those  which  occur  in  natural  sleep.  The  effect 
of  alcohol  in  setting  up  a  dream  state  in  the  mind 
while  the  senses  are  not  locked  in  sleep  is,  unfor- 
tunately, too  well  known.  When  a  certain  ])oint  is 
reached  in  intoxication  the  will  is  weakened,  the  auto- 


118    DREAMS,  NIGHTMARE,  AND  SOMNAMBULISM 

matic  machinery  takes  control,  the  judgment  is  de- 
throned, and  images  —  some  grotesque  and  others 
teiTible  —  having  the  power  of  exciting  the  corre- 
sponding emotions,  hurry  through  the  mind  until 
frenzy  is  reached,  subsequent  to  which  a  heavy  stu- 
por ends  the  scene.  When  a  drunken  man  becomes 
sober,  his  recollections  of  what  he  has  done  are  as 
vague  and  uncertain  as  those  of  dreamers;  and  a 
similar  inability  to  measure  the  flight  of  time,  to  per- 
ceive the  incongruity  of  images,  the  moral  character 
of  actions,  and  the  value  and  force  of  words,  charac- 
terizes this  state  which  attends  dreaming.  Ether, 
chloroform,  and  uitrous-oxid  gas,  when  the  amount 
administered  is  not  sufficient  to  produce  unconscious- 
ness, cause  similar  effects.  The  writer,  being  com- 
pelled to  undergo  a  surgical  operation  at  a  time  when 
he  was  greatly  absorbed  in  the  then  impending  civil 
war,  by  the  advice  of  physicians  took  ether,  the  effect 
of  which  was  to  lead  to  a  harangue  upon  abolitionism, 
in  which  profane  language  was  used.  As  the  effect 
deepened,  though  it  was  at  no  time  sufficient  to  pro- 
duce absolute  unconsciousness,  the  scene  changed, 
devotional  hymns  were  sung,  and  a  solemn  farewell 
taken  of  the  physicians  and  surgeon,  who  were  warned 
to  prepare  to  die.  Of  all  this  the  remembrance  was 
like  that  of  dreams. 

The  influence  of  hashish  has  received  much  atten- 
tion, and  has  been  outlined  in  scientific  works  and 
literary  compositions.  The  most  striking  account  of 
its  effects  is  that  of  M.  Theophile  Gautier,  originally 
I)ublished  in  ''La  Presse"  and  quoted  in  many  works. 
Under  the  influence  of  hashish  his  eyelashes  seemed 
to  lengthen  indefinitely,  twisting  themselves  like 
golden  threads  around  little  ivory  wheels.  Millions 
of  butterflies,  whose  wings  rustled  like  fans,  flew 
about  in  the  midst  of  a  confused  kind  of  litilit.    More 


DREAMS,  NIGHTMARE,  AND  SOMNAMBULISM    119 

than  five  hundred  clocks  chimed  the  hour  with  their 
flute-like  voices.  Goatsuckers,  storks,  striped  geese, 
unicorns,  griffins,  nightmares,  all  the  menagerie  of 
monstrous  dreams,  trotted,  jumped,  flew,  or  glided 
through  the  room.  According  to  his  calculation  this 
state,  of  which  the  above  quotations  give  but  a  feeble 
representation,  must  have  lasted  three  hundred  years; 
for  the  sensations  succeeded  each  other  so  numerously 
and  powerfully  that  the  relative  appreciation  of  time 
was  impossible.  When  the  attack  was  over,  he  found 
that  it  had  occupied  about  a  quarter  of  an  hour. 

These  drugs  operate  only  upon  the  circulation,  the 
nervous  system,  and  the  brain.  They  are  physical 
agents,  operating  upon  a  physical  basis,  and  yet  they 
produce  phenomena  resembling  those  of  dreams,  with 
the  exception  that  they  do  not  in  every  case  divorce 
the  motor  and  sensory  nerves  from  the  sensorium  as 
perfectly  as  in  ordinary  dreaming  sleep. 

Delirium  is  analogous  in  most  respects  to  the  con- 
ditions produced  by  these  drugs.  Its  stages  are  often 
very  similar  to  those  of  intoxication ;  so  that  it  re- 
quires a  skilled  physician  to  determine  whether  the 
patient  is  under  the  influence  of  delirium,  insanity,  or 
intoxication.  Delirium  results  from  change  in  the 
circulation,  or  a  defective  condition  of  the  blood; 
and  in  most  instances  there  is  no  difficulty,  when  the 
disease  is  understood,  in  assigning  the  approximate 
cause  of  the  delirium.  The  partial  recollection  or  for- 
getfulness  of  what  was  thought,  felt,  said,  or  done 
in  the  delirium,  and  similar  recollection  or  forgetful- 
ness  of  dream-images,  is  well  known  by  all  who  have 
experienced  both,  or  closely  observed  them.  The 
analogy  between  delirium  and  intoxication  loses  no- 
thing in  value  from  the  fact  that  the  drug  is  admin- 
istered. Disease  in  the  human  system  can  engender 
intoxicating  poisons  as  well  as  others. 


120    DREAMS,  NIGHTMAEE,  AND  SOMNAMBULISM 

Reverij  is  a  natural  condition,  so  common  to  chil- 
dren that  they  are  hardly  able  to  distinguish  between 
reports  from  the  external  world  and  images  pre- 
sented by  their  imagination.  But  revery  is  a  com- 
mon experience  of  the  human  race  in  all  stages  of 
development.  It  differs  from  abstraction  in  the  fact 
that  the  latter  is  the  intense  pursuit  of  a  train  of  rea- 
soning or  observation,  which  absorbs  the  mind  to 
such  an  extent  that  there  is  no  attention  left  for  the 
reports  of  the  senses.  Hence  the  abstracted  man 
neither  looks  nor  listens,  and  a  noise  or  an  impulse, 
far  greater  than  would  suffice  to  awaken  the  same 
man  if  asleep,  may  be  insufficient  to  divert  him  from 
the  train  of  thought  which  he  pursues.  Revery  is 
literally  day-dreaming.  It  is  not  reasoning.  The 
image-making  faculty  is  set  free  and  it  runs  on.  The 
mind  is  scarcely  attentive,  hardly  conscious,  and  the 
tear  may  come  to  the  eye,  or  the  smile  to  the  lip,  so 
that  in  a  crowded  street-car,  or  even  in  an  assembly, 
attention  may  be  attracted  to  one  who  is  wholly  un- 
conscious of  the  same.  A  person  may  imagine  him- 
self other  than  he  is,  derive  pleasure  from  the  change, 
and  thus  pass  an  hour  or  morning.  In  revery  we 
frequently  become  practical  somnambulists;  that  is, 
speak  audible  words  that  we  would  not  have  uttered 
on  any  account,  strike  blows,  move  articles,  ges- 
ticulate, and  do  many  other  things,  sometimes  with 
the  effect  of  immediately  recalling  us  to  a  know- 
ledge of  the  situation,  when  we,  as  well  as  others, 
are  amused,  but  often  without  being  aware  of  being 
noticed.  In  extreme  cases  the  only  distinctions  be- 
tween revery  and  dreaming  sleep  are  regular  breath- 
ing and  the  suspension  of  the  senses  which  accompany 
the  latter. 

llic  p((ss(((/e  from  revenj  info  dream iiuj  i>h'op  is  to  l)e 
scrutinized,  as  the  line  of  demarcation  is  less  than  the 


DREAMS,  NIGHTMARE,  AND  SOMNAMBULISM     121 

diameter  of  a  hair.  When  persons  lie  down  to  sleep, 
their  thoughts  take  on  the  dream  character  before 
they  can  lose  consciousness.  "  Look,"  says  Sir  Henry 
Holland,  ''to  the  passage  from  waking  to  sleeping,  and 
see  with  what  rapidity  and  facility  these  states  often 
alternate  with  each  other."  Abstract  reason  gives 
place  to  images  that  begin  to  move  at  random  be- 
fore the  mind's  eye;  if  they  are  identified  and  con- 
sidered, wakefulness  continues.  But  at  last  they 
become  vague,  attention  relaxes,  and  we  sleep.  It  is 
possible  to  realize  that  one  is  sleeping,  and  to  make 
an  effort  to  awake  and  seize  the  mental  train.  But 
the  would-be  sleeper  resumes  the  favorable  position, 
the  head  drops,  the  senses  lose  their  receptivity,  and 
he  who  spent  the  last  hour  of  the  evening  in  rev- 
ery  in  a  darkened  room  has  undergone  but  a  very 
slight  change  when  he  passes  into  sleep.  The  images 
still  run  on  while  the  body  reposes,  until,  according 
to  his  temperament  and  habits,  the  brain  becomes 
calm,  and  the  soporific  influence  penetrates,  we  can- 
not tell  how  far,  into  the  higher  regions  of  the 
sensorium. 

In  considering  the  passing /rom  the  dream  state  into 
the  waling  state,  several  analogies  are  to  be  noted. 
Sometimes  an  amusing  sense  of  the  last  dream  oc- 
cupies the  attention  deliciously  for  a  few  moments. 
Again,  it  is  not  uncommon  to  pass  out  of  a  dream  into  a 
perception  of  the  hour  of  the  night  and  of  the  situation, 
sink  back  into  sleep,  and  take  up  the  thread  of  the  dream 
where  it  had  been  left  at  the  moment  of  returning  con- 
sciousness. More  frequently  the  dream,  if  resumed,  will 
be  modified  by  physical  conditions.  At  other  times  the 
painful  consciousness  of  a  friglitful  dream  remains. 

From  these  analogies  the  eouelusion  is  reasonable 
that  dreaming  is  a  plienomenon  of  the  mind,  dejun- 
dent  upon  changes  in  the  circulation  of  the  blood,  and 
11 


122    DREAMS,  NIGHTMARE,  AND  SOMNAMBULISM 

in  the  condition  of  the  brain  and  nervous  system, 
whereby  the  higher  powers  of  the  mind,  including 
judgment,  conscience,  and  will,  are  prevented  from 
exercising  their  usual  jurisdiction,  the  senses  from  re- 
porting events  of  the  external  world  by  which  to  a 
great  extent  time  is  measured  and  space  relations  de- 
termined, while  the  image-making  faculty  and  animal 
instincts  are  to  a  less  degree  affected ;  and  that  the 
images  constructed  in  dreams  are  the  working  up  of 
the  raw  material  of  sensations,  experiences,  and  ideas 
stored  in  the  mind. 


MORE  DIRECT  EVIDENCE 

Of  the  truth  of  this  view  I  will  submit  further 
evidence. 

First.  There  is  no  proof  that  babes  ever  dream. 
The  interpretation  of  the  smile  of  the  infant,  which 
in  former  times  led  fond  mothers  to  suppose  that  ''an 
angel  spoke  to  it,"  is  now  that  the  cause  is  '^ spirit"  in 
the  original  sense  of  the  word — internal  gaseous 
phenomena.  Aristotle  says,  ^'  Man  sleeps  the  most 
of  all  animals.  Infants  and  young  children  do  not 
dream  at  all,  but  dreaming  begins  in  most  at  four  or 
five  years  old." 

Pliny,  however,  does  not  agree  with  Aristotle  in  this, 
and  gives  two  supposed  evidences  that  infants  dream. 
First,  they  will  instantly  awake  with  every  symptom 
of  alarm ;  secondly,  while  asleep  they  will  imitate  the 
action  of  sucking.  Neither  of  these  is  of  any  value 
as  proof.  As  to  the  first,  an  internal  pain,  to  which 
infants  appear  to  be  much  subject,  will  awaken  them ; 
and  as  they  are  incapable  of  being  frightened  by  any 
external  ol)ject  until  tiiey  are  some  mouths  old,  the 
symptom  is  not  of  alarm,  but  of  pain.     The  imitation 


DREAMS,  NIGHTMARE,  AND   SOMNAMBULISM     123 

while  asleop  of  the  action  of  sucking  is  instinctive, 
and  an  infant  will  do  so  when  awake,  iind  when  there 
is  obviously  not  the  slightest  connection  between  the 
state  of  mind  and  the  action.  The  condition  of  the 
babe  in  sleep  is  precisely  such  as  might  be  expected 
from  its  destitution  of  recorded  sensations. 

i^econd.  Animals  dream.  Aristotle's  history  of  ani- 
mals declares  that  horses,  oxen,  sheep,  goats,  dogs, 
and  all  viviparous  quadrupeds  dream.  Dogs  show 
this  ])y  barking  in  their  sleep.  He  says  further  that 
he  is  not  quite  certain  from  his  observations  whether 
animals  that  lay  eggs,  instead  of  producing  their 
young  alive,  dream;  but  it  is  certain  that  they  sleep. 
Pliny,  in  his  natural  history,  specifies  the  same  ani- 
mals. Buifon  describes  the  dreams  of  animals.  Mac- 
nish  calls  attention  to  the  fact  that  horses  neigh  and 
rear  in  their  sleep,  and  affirms  that  cows  and  sheep, 
especially  at  the  period  of  rearing  their  young,  dream. 
Scott,  in  the  ''Lay  of  the  Last  Minstrel,"  says: 

The  stag-hounds,  weary  with  the  chase, 
Lay  stretched  upon  the  rushy  floor, 
And  urged  in  dreams  the  forest  race 
From  Toviot-stone  to  Eskdale  Moor. 

Tennyson  also  speaks  of  dogs  that  hunt  in  dreams. 
Darwin,  in  the  "  Descent  of  Man,"  Vol.  L,  p.  44,  says 
that  ''  dogs,  cats,  horses,  and  probably  all  the  higher 
animals,  even  birds,  as  is  stated  on  good  authority 
(Dr.  Jerdon,  'Birds  of  India'),  have  vivid  dreams,  and 
this  is  shown  by  tlieir  movements  and  voice."  George 
John  Romanes,  in  his  "Mental  Evolution  in  Animals,'' 
says  that  the  fact  that  dogs  dream  is  proverbial, 
quotes  Seneca  and  Lucretius,  and  furnishes  proof  from 
Dr.  Lauder  Lindsay,  an  eminent  antliority,  that  horses 
dream.  Cuvier,  Jerdon,  Tlouzeau.  Beclistein,  Bennett, 
Thompson,  Lindsay,  and  Darwin  assert  that  birds 


124    DREAMS,  NIGHTMAEE,  AND   SOMNAMBULISM 

dream;  and,  according  to  Thompson,  among  birds 
the  stork,  the  canary,  the  eagle,  and  the  parrot,  and 
the  elephant  as  well  as  the  horse  and  the  dog,  are  "  in- 
cited" in  their  dreams.  Bechstein  holds  that  the  bull- 
finch dreams,  and  gives  a  case  where  the  dream  took 
on  the  character  of  nightmare  and  the  bird  fell  from 
its  perch ;  and  four  great  authorities  say  that  occa- 
sionally dreaming  becomes  so  vivid  as  to  lead  to  som- 
nambulism. Guer  gives  a  case  of  a  somnambulistic 
watch-dog  which  prowled  in  search  of  imaginary 
strangers  or  foes,  and  exhibited  toward  them  a  whole 
series  of  pantomimic  actions,  including  barking. 
Dryden  says : 

The  little  birds  in  dreams  the  songs  repeat, 

and  Dendy's  "Philosophy  of  Mystery"  quotes  from 
the  "Domestic  Habits  of  Birds"  in  proof  of  this. 

We  have  often  observed  this  in  a  wild  bird.  On  the  night  of 
the  6th  of  April,  1811,  about  ten  o'clock,  a  diinnock  (Accoifor 
modularis)  was  heard  in  the  garden  to  go  through  its  usual  song 
more  than  a  dozen  times  very  faintly,  but  distinctly  enough  for 
the  species  to  bo  recognized.  The  night  was  cold  and  frosty, 
but  might  it  not  be  that  the  little  musician  was  dreaming  of 
summer  and  sunshine  ?  Aristotle,  indeed,  proposes  the  ques- 
tion— whether  animals  hatched  from  eggs  ever  dream?  Mac- 
gi-ave,  in  reply,  expressly  says  tliat  his  "  parrot  Laura  often 
arose  in  the  night  and  prattled  while  half  asleep." 

Third.  The  dreams  of  the  hJind  are  of  great  im- 
portance, and  the  fact  that  persons  born  blind  never 
dream  of  seeing  is  established  by  the  investigations 
of  competent  inquirers.  So  far  as  we  know,  there 
is  no  proof  of  a  single  instance  of  one  born  blind 
ever  in  dreams  fancying  that  he  saw.  The  subject 
has  been  treated  in  the  "New  Princeton  Review" 
by  Joseph  Jastrow,  who   has  examined   nearly  two 


DREAMS,  NIGHTMARE,  AND  SOMNAMBULISM    125 

hundred  persons  of  both  sexes  in  the  institutions  for 
the  blind  in  Philadelpiiia  and  Baltimore.  Thirty-two 
became  blind  before  completing  their  fifth  year,  and 
not  one  of  these  thirty-two  sees  in  dreams.  Concern- 
ing Laura  Bridgman,  the  blind  and  deaf  mute,  Mr. 
Jastrow  says,  "  Sight  and  hearing  are  as  alisent  from 
her  dreams  as  they  are  from  the  dark  and  silent  world 
which  alone  she  knows." 

Fourth.  The  testimony  is  the  same  with  regard  to 
those  born  dedf.  Tlie  celebrated  Harvey  P.  Peet, 
LL.  D.,  in  his  researches,  among  the  most  philosophi- 
cal ever  made,  places  this  fact  beyond  rational  doubt ; 
but  other  investigators  furnish  equally  valuable  evi- 
dence. In  visiting  institutions  for  the  blind  and  the 
deaf,  I  have  made  inquiry,  and  have  never  found  an  in- 
stance of  a  person  born  deaf,  or  of  a  child  who  lost  his 
hearing  before  he  was  four  years  of  age,  dreaming  of 
hearing.  Among  the  results  of  recent  inquiries  I  pre- 
sent the  following  from  the  principal  of  the  State 
Institution  for  the  Blind  and  Deaf  at  St.  Augustine, 
Florida : 

I  have  closely  questioned  the  deaf  children  hero  as  to  whether 
they  have  ever  dreamed  of  hearing,  and  the  invariable  answer  is 
No.  I  have  asked  the  same  question  of  upward  of  fifty  deaf 
persons  with  the  same  result,  except  where  the  person  interro- 
{i^ated  had  lost  his  hearing  after  learning  to  talk.  These  last 
mentioned  are  all  persons  of  some  education  who  understood  tlio 
question  fully  and  were  very  positive  that  they  had  never 
dreamed  of  hearing  more  than  a  rumbling  sound. 

Very  sincerely, 

Park  Tekrell. 

I  was  one  of  the  members  of  a  committee  of  three 
to  visit  the  State  institution  of  Michigan  for  the  blind 
and  deaf,  at  Flint,  where  there  were  hundreds  of  pu- 
pils. The  method  of  awakening  them  in  the  morning 
and  of  (tailing  them  to  recitations  and  to  chapel  ser- 


126    DREAMS,  NIGHTMARE,  AND  SOMNAMBULISM 

vices  was  by  beating  a  bass-drum,  which,  of  course,  the 
blind  could  hear.  But  it  was  curious  to  observe  the 
deaf  awaking  from  a  sound  sleep  in  the  morning, 
or  called  to  chapel  and  recitation  at  other  hours  of  the 
day,  by  the  beating  of  a  bass-drum  in  the  central  hall. 
Those  who  could  not  have  heard  the  reverberation  of 
all  the  artillery  in  the  world  felt  the  vibration  of  the 
building  produced  by  the  beating  of  the  drum,  and 
obeyed  the  signal.  Some  of  them  dreamed  of  vibra- 
tion; none  born  deaf  of  hearing. 

In  further  elucidation  of  the  subject,  I  addressed  a 
letter  to  Professor  J.  W.  Chickering,  Jr.,  of  the  Na- 
tional Deaf  Mute  College  at  Washington,  D.  C,  and 
under  date  of  February  3, 1888,  received  the  following: 

Deaf  mutes  of  all  grades  dream  frequently,  though  they  aro 
not  given  to  imagination.  As  to  tlie  question  whether  they 
dream  about  anything  involving  sound,  I  have  made  diligent  in- 
quiry, and  have  been  answered  in  the  negative  except  in  the 
case  of  the  Rev.  Job  Turner.  He  says  that  he  once  dreamed  of 
being  counsel  for  a  prisoner,  and  being  greatly  delighted  to  fiud 
himself  making  a  very  eloquent  speech  in  his  behalf. 

The  question  of  dreaming  about  sounds  in  the  case  of  semi- 
mutes  was  discussed  in  the  "American  Annals"  some  years  ago 
by  Professor  Greenberger  of  New  York,  and  some  statistics  were 
given  ;  but  he  dismisses  your  inquiry  ((.  c,  whether  persons 
born  deaf  ever  dream  of  hearing)  very  abruptly  by  saying, 
"  This  question  was  put  to  a  nimiber  of  congenital  deaf  mutes, 
and,  as  might  have  been  expected,  their  answers  were  all  in  the 
negative." 

I  may  state  to  you,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  that  one  of  our  deaf- 
mute  teachers,  who  has  no  memory  of  hearing,  has  waked  from 
sleep  in  a  fright  by  tlio  report  of  firearms ;  but  that  would  be 
accounted  for  by  the  concussion  and  consequent  action  upon  the 
nerves  of  general  sensation. 

Truly  yours, 

J.  \V.  Chickering,  Jr. 

Upon  the  al)ove  letter  I  may  remark  that  the  single 
case  of  the  Rev.  Job  Turner,  an  educated  man,  accus- 


DREAMS,  NIGHTMARE,  AND  SOMNAMBULISM    127 

tomed  to  read  and  imagine  spoken  oratory,  can  be  ac- 
counted for  without  assuming  that  he  dreamed  of 
hearing  sounds,  the  speech-making  being  a  movement 
of  his  mind  involving  an  act  rather  than  a  perception. 
The  being  wakened  by  the  explosion  of  firearms  is, 
as  Professor  Chickering  justly  says,  explicable  on  the 
same  principle  as  that  which  accounts  for  the  awak- 
ing of  the  deaf  and  the  communication  of  information 
by  the  rhythmical  vibration  of  a  building. 

Leaving  out  of  account  the  question  of  the  dream- 
less state  of  infants  and  very  young  children,  I  deem 
the  facts  that  animals  dream,  that  the  congenital 
blind  and  deaf  never  dream  of  seeing  or  hearing,  con- 
clusive proof  that  dreams  are  phenomena  of  the  phys- 
ical basis  of  mind,  dependent  upon  changes  in  the 
circulation  of  the  blood,  and  the  condition  of  the 
brain  and  the  nervous  system ;  and  that  images  con- 
structed in  dreams  are  automatic  combinations  of  the 
sensations,  experiences,  ideas,  and  images  stored  in  the 
mind. 

Three  further  collateral  evidences  can  be  adduced. 
First,  the  modification  of  dreams  by  physical  condi- 
tions. With  this  all  are  familiar.  These  are  plainly, 
so  to  speak,  efforts  of  the  image-making  faculty  ac- 
tive in  dreams  to  account  without  the  aid  of  the 
judgment  for  a  physical  sensation.  Every  one  knows 
that  the  condition  of  the  digestive  organs,  the  posi- 
tion of  the  head  or  any  other  part  of  the  body,  will 
affect  dreams. 

Another  fact  is  that  the  dreams  of  the  very  aged, 
unless  something  unusually  agitating  is  anticipated 
or  occurs,  generally  recur  to  scenes  of  former  years, 
and  therein  greatly  resemble  their  conversation.  Even 
when  the  intelh'ctual  faculties  are  unimpaired,  and 
the  aged  person  is  much  interested  in  current  events, 
and  i)ursues  a  train  of  study  and  reflection  by  day 


128    DREAMS,  NIGHTMARE,  AND  SOMNAMBULISM 

under  the  control  of  the  will,  when  at  night  the  ima- 
gination is  set  free,  scenes  of  early  life  or  childhood 
furnish  the  materials  of  the  images  nnich  more  fre- 
quently than  contemporaneous  events.  This  is  in 
harmony  with  the  known  laws  of  memory. 

In  regard  to  the  dreams  of  the  insane,  the  ^'  Medi- 
cal Critic  and  Psychological  Journal"  of  April,  1862, 
says : 

The  dreams  of  tlie  insane  are  generally  characteristic  of  the 
nature  of  the  aberration  under  which  they  labor;  those  of  the 
typho-maniac  are  gloomy  and  frightful ;  of  the  general  para- 
lytic, gay  and  smiling ;  of  the  maniac,  wild,  disordered,  pugna- 
cious ;  in  stupidity  they  are  vague,  obscure,  and  incoherent ;  in 
dementia,  few  and  fleeting ;  in  hypochondria  and  hysteria  the 
sleep,  especially  during  indigestion,  is  disturbed  and  painful. 

This  is  in  accordance  with  all  the  indications. 


ACCOUNTING    FOR    THE    CHARACTERISTICS    OF    DREAMS 

In  dreams,  time  and  the  limitations  of  space  are 
apparently  annihilated.  This  is  to  be  explained  by 
the  fact  that  the  reports  of  the  senses  and  the.  move- 
ments of  external  bodies  by  which  we  measure  time 
are  shut  out,  and  the  mind  is  entirely  absorbed  in  a 
series  of  images. 

I  entered  the  South  Kensington  Museum  in  Lon- 
don, and  saw  a  painting  of  an  Alderney  bull,  cow,  and 
calf  in  a  field,  which  produced  so  extraordinary  an 
illusion  that  I  advanced  several  steps  toward  it  in 
broad  daylight,  under  the  belief  that  I  was  looking 
out  of  a  window  into  the  park.  The  same  phenome- 
non occurs  under  the  spell  of  an  orator  of  the  highest 
grade;  and  it  is  the  cliarm  of  a  theatrical  jX'rform- 
ance  to  make  an  audience  think  and  feel  that  a  series 


DREAMS,  NIGHTMARE,  AND  SOMNAMBULISM     129 

of  events  which  wonlil  ordinarily  occupy  many  years 
is  taking  place  before  them.  That  which,  under  these 
circumstances,  is  accomplished  in  part  by  abstraction 
or  external  means,  in  dreams  is  done  entirely  by  cut- 
ting off  all  possibility  of  estimating  time  or  space. 

The  mind  is  supposed  to  move  more  rapidly  in 
dreams  than  in  waking  thoughts.  Dreams  without 
doubt  are  more  diversified  and  numerous  than  the 
waking  thoughts  of  busy  men  and  women  absorbed 
in  a  particular  routine  of  work,  or  in  the  necessary 
cares  of  the  body,  or  in  conversation  circumscribed 
by  conventional  laws,  the  slow  rate  of  speech,  and 
the  duty  of  listening.  But  it  is  an  error  to  think 
that  dream-images  are  more  numerous  than  those  of 
revery.  In  a  single  hour  of  revery  one  may  see  more 
images  than  he  could  fully  describe  in  a  volume  of  a 
thousand  pages.  It  is  as  true  of  the  waking  as  of  the 
dreaming  state,  that 

Lulled  in  the  countless  chambers  of  the  brain, 
Our  thoughts  are  linked  in  many  a  hidden  chain  ; 
Wake  but  one,  and  lo  !  what  myriads  rise  : 
Each  stamps  its  image  as  the  otlier  flies. 

Apparent  loss  of  identity  in  dreams,  and  finding 
one's  self  in  impossible  positions,  are  the  result  of 
the  entire  occupation  of  the  perceptive  faculties  with 
one  image  at  a  time.  A  dream  that  a  man  is  a  cler- 
gyman may  change  into  one  that  he  is  a  general  com- 
manding on  the  field  of  battle,  and  he  w'ill  see  no 
incongruity.  He  may  even  imagine  himself  to  be 
two  persons  at  the  same  time,  as  in  Dr.  Johnson's 
case  when  he  contended  with  a  man,  and  was  much 
chagrined  to  feel  that  his  opponent  had  the  better  of 
him  in  wit.  He  was  consoled,  however,  when  on 
waking  lie  perceived  that  he  had  furnished  the  wit 
for  l)oth. 


130     DEEAMS,  NIGHTMARE,  AND  SOMNAMBXJLISM 

The  vividness  of  dreams  is  to  be  explained  in  the 
same  way.  If  a  man  sees  that  his  own  house  is  on 
fire,  and  his  family  in  danger,  he  looks  at  the  scene 
in  such  a  way  that  he  becomes  for  the  time  as  uncon- 
scious of  anything  else  as  though  there  were  nothing 
in  his  brain  but  the  picture.  So  in  the  dream,  as  he 
sees  nothing  but  the  picture,  it  must  be  more  vivid 
than  any  ordinary  reality  can  possibly  be ;  only  from 
the  most  extraordinary  scenes  can  an  analogy  be 
drawn. 

In  dreams  circumstances  often  appear  which  had 
been  known  by  the  dreamer,  but  practically  forgot- 
ten. Men  have  sworn  that  they  never  knew  certain 
things,  and  maintained  that  they  had  been  revealed 
to  them  in  dreams,  when  subsequent  investigation 
proved  indubitably  that  they  had  known,  but  had 
forgotten  them.  The  recurrence  is  precisely  like  or- 
dinary waking  experiences.  Events  which  have  not 
emerged  into  consciousness  for  a  score  of  years,  or 
longer,  and  phrases,  parts  of  words,  expressions  of 
countenance,  tones  of  voices,  analogies  stumbled  upon 
in  the  most  out-of-the-way  places,  may  in  a  single 
moment  bring  an  entire  scene  with  several  series  of 
related  events  before  the  mind. 

The  testimony  of  the  mind  excited  to  a  certain  de- 
gree of  activity  by  fear  of  death  by  shipwreck  or 
fire,  or,  as  Whymper  has  shown  in  his  "  Scrambles 
among  the  Alps,"  the  immediate  expectation  of  a  fatal 
fall,  is  that  it  seems  to  see  at  a  glance  the  whole  of  the 
past  life.  This  is  sufficient  to  show  w^hat  it  can  do  in 
an  entirely  normal  state,  and  nothing  can  ever  occur 
in  dreams  more  vivid  than  this,  though  it  is  to  be 
considered  that  we  have  only  the  statements  of  these 
persons  in  regard  to  what  they  think  was  their  men- 
tal condition  ;  nor  in  any  case  could  they  know  that 
they  saw  everything. 


DREAMS,  NIGHTMARE,  AND  SOMNAMBULISM    131 

When  one  dreams  that  he  is  dreaming,  which  occa- 
sionally occurs,  he  is  approaching  the  waking  state ; 
but  since  he  cannot  at  that  time  sit  in  judgment  fully 
on  what  he  dreams  without  waking,  it  is  equally  clear 
that  his  state  resembles  that  of  a  delirious  person  who 
may  perceive  that  he  is  delirious  and  acknowledge  it, 
but  in  a  few  seconds  be  again  absorbed  in  what  he 
sees. 

Some  of  the  most  interesting  achievements  of  the 
mind  in  dreams  are  the  composition  of  poetry  and  the 
working  out  of  mathematical  problems.  Dr.  Aber- 
crombie  says  that  his  friend  Dr.  Gregory  told  him  that 
thoughts  and  even  expressions  which  had  occurred  to 
him  in  dreams  seemed  to  him  so  good  when  he  awoke 
that  he  used  them  in  his  college  lectures.  Condorcet, 
having  gone  to  bed  before  finishing  certain  profound 
calculations,  said  afterward  that  sometimes  the  con- 
clusions of  the  work  had  been  revealed  to  him  in 
dreams.  Dr.  Abercrombie  relates  that  Benjamin 
Franklin,  than  whose  a  more  well-balanced  and  self- 
controlled  mind  never  existed,  assured  Cabanis  that 
the  bearing  and  issue  of  political  events  which  puz- 
zled him  when  awake  were  not  unfrequently  unfolded 
to  him  in  his  dreams.  Dr.  Carpenter  attempts  to 
explain  this  by  the  theory  well  known  as  "  uncon- 
scious cerebration."  Like  the  terms  of  the  phrenolo- 
gists, this  may  describe  but  does  not  explain  the  pro- 
cess; and  what  it  describes  occurs  frequently  while 
we  are  awake.  Not  only  in  questions  of  memory,  but 
in  the  profoundest  thought,  how  often,  when  we  have 
been  compelled  to  turn  from  one  class  of  work  to  an- 
other, and  are,  so  far  as  our  consciousness  reports,  en- 
tirely absorbed  in  it,  in  an  instant  a  thought  germane 
to  the  first  problem  which  was  occupying  the  mind 
appears  with  such  clearness  as  to  surpass  in  j)erti- 
uency  and  value  anything  which  we  had  previously 


132    DREAMS,  NIGHTMARE,  AND  SOMNAMBULISM 

reached.  We  are  compelled  to  take  uote  of  it,  and  in 
the  case  of  defective  recollection  the  best  of  all  modes 
is  to  cease  to  think  about  the  matter,  and  in  a  short 
time  it  will  appear  almost  with  the  intelligence  of 
a  messenger  bringing  something  for  which  he  had 
been  sent. 

When  one  has  wearied  himself,  and  his  perceptions 
have  been  somewhat  obscured,  even  though  nothing 
had  occurred  of  the  nature  of  unconscious  cerebra- 
tion, it  would  not  be  surprising  if  after  refreshing 
sleep  the  first  effort  of  his  mind  should  classify  and 
complete  the  undigested  work  of  the  day  before.  The 
dream  imagery  under  which  such  things  are  done  fre- 
quently invests  the  operation  with  a  mj'sterious  as- 
pect, which,  on  analysis,  appears  most  natural.  I  am 
informed  by  one  of  the  participants  that  some  time 
since  two  gentlemen  in  Pennsylvania  were  convers- 
ing concerning  an  intricate  mathematical  problem. 
One  of  them  succeeded  in  its  solution  by  algebraic 
methods.  The  other  insisted  that  it  could  be  done  by 
arithmetic,  but,  after  making  many  efforts,  gave  up 
the  problem,  and  retired  for  the  night.  In  the  morn- 
ing he  informed  his  friend  that  in  the  night,  while  he 
was  asleep,  an  old  Scotch  schoolmaster,  who  had  been 
his  instructor  many  years  before,  appeared  to  him  and 
said,  ^'I  am  ashamed  of  you  that  you  could  not  do  that 
sum.  It  can  be  w^orked  out  by  arithmetic,  and  I  will 
sliow  you  how  now."  And  he  added  that  lie  had  im- 
mediately done  so,  and  in  the  morning  when  he  awoke 
lie  had  put  the  figures  on  paper  just  as  his  school- 
master liad  done  in  the  dream ;  and  thoi-o  tliey  were, 
a  (!omplete  solution  of  tlie  example. 

It  was  a  very  ini})ressive  dream,  but  easily  ex- 
plaiiKul.  It  w;is  a  woi-kal)l('  ])r()))h'ni.  TIk;  man, 
asliamcd  of  himself  that  lie  (H>uld  not  do  it  and  ex- 
hausted with  his  efforts,  had  sunk  into  a  troubled 


DREAMS,  NIGHTMARE,  AND  SOMNAMBULISM    133 

sleep.  His  mind  undoubtedly  had  recurred  to  his 
old  teacher  and  the  rule;  and  as  he  dreamed  about 
the  matter,  the  working  out  of  the  problem  had  to 
come  in  some  form.  What  more  natural  tlian  that 
the  image  of  the  teacher  who  taught  him  the  greater 
part  of  what  he  knew  of  the  subject  of  arithmetic, 
especially  in  difficult  problems,  should  have  come  in 
to  give  bodily  shape  to  the  shame  which  he  felt,  and 
that  his  fancy  should  attribute  the  information  to 
him?  So  that,  instead  of  such  a  dream  being  extra- 
ordinary, it  is  the  most  natural  method  in  which  it 
could  occur. 

Th(;  mind  when  awake  is  capable,  by  an  effort  of 
the  imagination,  of  conceiving  most  grotesque  ideas. 
For  example,  a  man  sees  before  him  a  huge  rock. 
He  may  conceive  the  idea  that  that  rock  is  trans- 
formed into  pure  gold,  and  that  upon  it  is  a  raised 
inscription,  made  of  diamonds,  promising  the  rock 
as  a  reward  for  the  guessing  of  a  conundrum.  Being 
awake,  he  perceives  both  clearly — the  rock  in  its 
original  character,  and  the  image  of  the  gold  rock 
with  the  raised  letters  in  diamonds.  Perceiving  both, 
he  knows  the  rock  to  be  real  and  the  other  to  be  fantas- 
tic. If  the  faculties  by  which  he  identifies  the  granite 
rock  were  to  be  stupefied,  leaving  those  by  which  he 
conceives  the  idea  of  the  gold  and  diamonds  in  full 
exercise,  it  is  clear  that  he  would  believe  that  the 
granite  rock  was  gold.  If  awake,  in  this  state,  he  would 
be  insane;  if  asleep,  he  would  be  dreaming.  So,  if  tlie 
dreamer  be  absorbed  in  images  which  seem  to  him 
real,  if  the  faculties  by  which  he  would  distinguish 
an  ideal  conception  from  an  objective  reality  were  re- 
stored, he  would  take  cognizance  of  his  surroundings, 
and  tliough  the  image  might  I't'iiiuiu  it  would  not 
seem  i-ful.  Tlie  statement  of  this  srlf-evident  fact  is 
sufficient  to  show  what  all  the  evidence  I  have  col- 
12 


134    DREAMS,  NIGHTMARE,  AND  SOMNAMBULISM 

lated  combines  to  prove,  that  Mercufio,  in  "Romeo 
and  Juliet,"  was  scientifically  correct  when  he  said: 

True,  I  talk  of  dreams, 
Which  are  the  children  of  an  idle  brain. 
Begot  of  nothing  but  vain  fantasy. 


Nightmare,  with  all  its  horrors,  is  but  a  variety  of 
dream.  The  causes  for  its  peculiarities  are  various  — 
position ;  pressure  upon  the  stomach,  whereby  the 
sympatlietic  nerves  are  affected,  and  through  them 
the  brain;  extreme  fatigue,  etc.  When  one  is  awake 
and  has  precisely  the  same  unfavorable  physical  sen- 
sations which  would  produce  nightmare,  he  refers 
them  to  their  proper  source,  changes  his  position, 
measures  the  probable  consequences,  resorts  to  medi- 
cal aid,  or  absorbs  himself  in  work ;  but  when  asleep, 
the  mind  attempts  to  account  for  the  sensation,  and 
will  perhaps  construct  an  image  of  Bunker  Hill  Monu- 
ment pressing  upon  his  chest  to  account  for  a  sensa- 
tion which,  if  he  were  awake,  he  would  have  no 
difficulty  in  explaining. 

The  relation  to  nightmare  of  sleeping  on  the  back  is 
so  simple  as  hardly  to  need  an  explanation.  Many 
persons  never  have  an  attack  unless  they  get  into 
this  position. 

Somnambulism  differs  from  dreams  in  the  fact  that 
one  or  more  of  the  senses  may  be  in  an  active  condi- 
tion, and  that  one  or  more  of  the  organs  may  respond 
to  the  idea  which  absorbs  the  mind.  A  merchant  in 
New  York,  traveling  on  the  Mississippi  Kiver,  occu- 
pied the  same  state-room  with  a  stranger  of  highly 
respectable  appearance.  In  the  morning  the  stranger, 
taking u])  his  stockings,  said  sadly,  "I  see  I  have  been 
at  my  old  tricks  again."  "To  what  do  you  refer!" 
asked  the  merchant.     "  My  stockings  are  wet,  and  I 


DREAMS,  NIGHTMARE,  AND  SOMNAMBULISM     135 

must  have  arisen  in  the  ni«?ht  and  traveled  all  over 
the  ship." 

As  alread}'  remarked,  talking  in  the  sleep  is  the 
simplest  form  in  which  somnambulism  appears.  Usu- 
ally dreamers  do  not  move  their  limbs,  and  especially 
are  incapable  of  rising  or  walking,  because  under 
ordinary  circumstances  the  impulse  to  do  these  things 
is  created  by  the  will,  and  it  requires  a  strong  exer- 
tion thereof  to  overcome  the  inertia  of  the  body  and 
to  begin  the  complex  series  of  motions  necessary  to 
move  from  place  to  place.  In  sleep  the  image  is  not 
sufficiently  vivid  to  take  control  of  the  muscles. 

Cicero  says  that  if  it  had  been  so  ordered  by  nature 
that  we  should  actually  do  in  sleep  all  that  we  dream 
of  doing,  ever}'  man  would  have  to  be  bound  to  the 
bed  before  going  to  sleep.  The  justice  of  this  remark 
is  illustrated  in  the  case  of  somnambulism. 

The  peculiarity  of  somnambulism  which  identifies 
it  with  dreaming  is  complete  ab.sorption  of  all  the 
powers  and  faculties  in  the  image.  A  voice  falling 
in  with  that  may  be  heard ;  one  speaking  of  other 
matters  is  unnoticed.  Dreamers  who  have  never  been 
somnambulists  could,  by  a  process  of  training,  be 
transformed  into  such  ;  and,  what  is  more  important, 
the  tendency  can  be  destroyed  if  taken  in  time. 

Sir  Henry  Holland  says  that  it  is  an  old  trick  to 
put  the  hand  into  cold  water,  or  to  produce  some 
other  sensation  not  so  active  as  to  awaken,  but  suffi- 
cient to  draw  the  mind  from  a  more  profound  to  a 
lighter  slumber;  thus  the  sleeper  may  be  made  to 
answer  questions. 

Great  light  has  been  reflected  upon  natural  by  arti- 
ficial somnambulism,  known  by  the  various  names  of 
mesmerism,  animal  magnetism,  ele('tro-l)iol<)gy,  liyi>- 
notism,  etc.  It  is  an  astonishing  fact  tluit  in  tlicsi^ 
states  a  particndar  sense  may  l)e  exalted  so  as  to  give; 


136    DREAMS,  NIGHTMARE,  AND  SOMNAMBULISM 

results  which  in  a  normal  condition  would  be  impos- 
sible; and  which  to  a  superficial  observer,  and  eveu 
to  an  investigator  if  he  be  inexperienced,  appear  to 
transcend  the  bounds  of  the  human  faculty.  Abnor- 
mal states,  involving  changes  radically  different  from 
dream  somnambulism,  happen  spontaneously  when 
awake,  occur  in  delirium,  and  at  rare  intervals  the 
somnambulist  may  pass  into  them.  They  will  be 
treated  elsewhere. 


jMYSterious  dreams  analyzed 

If  the  foregoing  attempt  at  explanation  covered  all 
the  actual  phenomena  of  dreams,  there  is  no  reason  to 
doubt  that  it  would  be  satisfactory  to  readers  of  in- 
telligence ;  but  it  is  claimed  by  many  that  in  dreams 
premonitions  of  future  events  are  given,  especially  of 
death;  that  events  which  have  taken  place,  of  inter- 
est to  the  recipient  of  the  communication,  are  made 
known ;  and  that  the  knowledge  of  curi-ent  events 
is  frequently  imparted  when  the  dreamer  is  at  a  great 
distance. 

An  acquaintance  of  mine,  a  young  man,  nineteen 
years  of  age,  a  student  in  a  large  seminary  about 
sixty  miles  from  New  York,  was  strongly  attached  to 
a  teacher  who  died,  to  the  great  grief  of  the  student. 
Some  time  afterward  the  young  man  dreamed  that 
the  teacher  appeared  to  him  and  notified  him  tliat 
he  would  die  on  a  certain  day  and  hour.  lie  informed 
his  mother  and  friends  of  the  dream,  and  expressed 
a  firm  belief  that  when  that  time  came  he  sliouUl 
die.  They  considered  it  a  delusion  ;  and  as  no  alarm- 
ing change  took  place  in  his  health,  they  were  not 
anxious.  WIkmi  the  day  arrived  they  noticed  notliing 
unusual ;  but  after  dining  and  seeming  to  enjoy  tlie 


DREAMS,  NIGHTMARE,  AND  SOMNAMBULISM     137 

meal  and  to  be  quite  cheerful,  he  went  to  his  room, 
lay  down,  and  died  without  a  struggle. 

The  following  case  is  said  to  be  authentic :  The 
father  of  a  certain  lady  died.  About  a  year  after- 
ward she  aroused  her  husband  by  sobbing  and  trem- 
bling violently,  while  tears  ran  down  her  cheeks. 
She  explained  that  she  had  just  had  a  vivid  dream, 
in  which  she  had  seen  her  father  assemble  all  his 
children  in  his  room  in  the  old  house,  and  tell  them 
that  the  family  heirlooms  were  being  disposed  of  to 
strangers.  The  same  dream  recurred  the  next  night. 
A  day  or  two  afterward  this  lady,  while  walking  in 
the  town  where  she  lived,  saw  lier  fathei-^s  walking- 
stick,  with  a  gold  band  bearing  an  inscription,  a  gift 
from  all  his  children,  in  the  hands  of  a  stranger.  The 
sight  so  affected  her  that  she  fainted.  Later  inqui- 
ries proved  that  the  stick  had  changed  hands  on  the 
day  previous  to  her  first  dream. 

The  case  of  William  Tennent  is  in  point.  Mr. 
Tennent,  a  remarkable  preacher  of  Freehold,  N.  J., 
zealous  in  promoting  revivals,  had  a  particular  friend, 
the  Rev.  David  Rowland,  who  was  also  exceedingly 
successful.  A  notorious  man  named  Thomas  Bell, 
guilty  of  theft,  robbery,  fraud,  and  every  form  of 
crime,  greatly  resembled  Mr.  Rowland.  Passing  him- 
self off  for  him,  he  imposed  upon  citizens  of  Hunter- 
don County,  N.  J.,  robbed  them  and  fled,  everywhere 
representing  himself  as  the  Rev.  Mr.  Rowland.  At 
the  time  he  perpetrated  this  robbery  in  Hunterdon 
County,  *' Messrs.  Tennent  and  Rowland,  accompanied 
by  two  lajTnen,  Joshua  Anderson  and  Benjamin  Ste- 
vens, went  into  Pennsylvania  or  Maryland  to  conduct 
religious  services.  When  Mr.  Rowland  returned,  he 
was  charged  with  the  robbery  committed  by  Bell. 
H<'  gave  bonds  to  a})pear  at  the  court  of  Ti-enton, 
and  the  (tffdir  made  a  (jreat  noise  throiKjIioiit  the  eoloni/. 


138    DREAMS,  NIGHTMARE,  AND   SOMNAMBULISM 

Tennent,  Anderson,  and  Stevens  appeared,  and  swore 
that  the}'  were  with  Mr.  Rowland  and  heard  him 
preach  on  that  very  day  in  Pennsylvania  or  Mary- 
land. He  was  at  once  acquitted."  But  months  after- 
ward Tennent,  Anderson,  and  Stevens  were  arraigned 
for  perjury.  Anderson  was  tried  and  fouud  guilty. 
Tennent  and  Stevens  were  summoned  to  appear  be- 
fore the  next  court.  Stevens  took  advantage  of  a 
flaw  in  the  indictment  and  was  discharged.  Tennent 
refused  to  do  that,  or  to  give  any  assistance  to  his 
counsel,  relying  upon  God  to  deliver  him.  The  au- 
thorized ''Life  of  Tennent"  now  gives  the  particulars: 

Mr.  Tennent  had  not  walked  far  in  the  street  (the  bell  had 
rung  summoning  them  to  court)  before  ho  met  a  man  and  his 
wife,  who  stopped  him,  and  asked  if  his  name  was  not  Tennent. 
He  answered  in  the  affirmative,  and  begged  to  know  if  they 
had  any  business  with  him.  The  man  replied,  "  You  best 
know."  He  told  his  name,  and  said  that  he  was  from  a  certain 
place  (which  he  mentioned)  in  Pennsylvania  or  Maryland;  that 
Messrs.  Rowland,  Tennent,  Anderson,  and  Stevens  had  lodged 
either  at  his  house,  or  in  a  house  wherein  lie  and  his  wife  had 
been  servants  (it  is  not  now  certain  which),  at  a  particular 
time  which  he  named ;  that  on  the  following  day  they  heard 
Messrs.  Tennent  and  Rowland  preach  ;  that  some  nights  before 
they  left  home,  he  and  his  wife  waked  out  of  a  sound  sleep,  and 
each  told  the  other  a  dream  which  had  just  occurred,  and  which 
proved  to  be  the  same  in  substance :  to  wit,  that  he,  ^Mr.  Ten- 
nent, was  at  Trenton,  in  the  greatest  possible  distress,  and  that 
it  was  in  their  power,  and  theirs  only,  to  relieve  him.  Consid- 
ering it  as  a  remarkable  dream  only,  they  again  went  to  sleep, 
and  it  was  twice  repeated,  precisely  in  tlio  same  manner,  to 
both  of  them.  This  made  so  deep  an  impression  on  their  minds, 
that  they  set  off,  and  hero  they  were,  and  would  know  of  him 
what  they  were  to  do. 

On  the  trial  the  evidence  of  these  persons,  and  of 
some  others  who  knew  Bell,  and  were  acquainted  with 
his  resemblance  to  Mr.  Rowlaiul,  was  sufficient  to  se- 
cure Mr.  Tennent's  acquittal. 


DREAMS,  NIGHTMARE,  AND  SOMNAMBULISM    139 

To  explain  such  dreams  as  these  some  introduce  a 
supernatural  element,  claiming  that  they  are  sent  by 
God  to  warn  his  people ;  others  adopt  the  hypothesis 
now  known  as  telepathy;  while  still  others  content 
themselves  with  vague  references  to  "  clairvoyance." 

Close  investigation  of  a  large  number  of  alleged 
premonitions  of  death,  revelations  of  current  and 
past  facts,  and  predictions  of  the  future  has  afforded 
me  no  ground  for  a  scientific  presumption  either  of 
supernatural  interference,  of  telepathy,  or  of  clair- 
voyance. That  is,  authentic  cases  can  be  more  rea- 
sonably explained  without  than  with  any  of  these 
assumptions. 

The  English  Society  of  Psychical  Research  was 
founded  in  1882,  and  has  pursued  its  investigations 
since  that  time.  The  names  of  its  president,  vice- 
presidents,  corresponding  members,  and  council  in- 
clude men  justly  distinguished  in  various  fields  of 
scientific  investigation,  and  some  occupying  high  re- 
ligious positions;  the  list  of  members  is  also  imposing. 
The  investigations,  as  usual  in  such  cases,  have  been 
left  to  a  few  members  whose  tastes  and  opportuni- 
ties are  favorable,  and  many  of  the  most  learned  and 
conservative  members  of  the  body  appear,  from  the 
reports  of  all  the  proceedings,  to  have  taken  no 
active  part  in  the  work.  President  G.  Stanley  Hall, 
of  Clark  University,  formerly  Professor  of  Psychol- 
ogy and  Pedagogics  in  Johns  Hopkins  University, 
who  is  one  of  the  corresponding  members,  regrets,  in 
an  elaborate  review  of  the  experiments  and  their  re- 
sults, the  absence  from  the  investigations  of  the  most 
celebrated  alienists.  Certain  active  members,  by  the 
frequency  of  their  contributions,  have  practically,  in 
the  public  mind,  committed  the  Society  to  telepathy, 
or  the  ability  of  one  mind  to  impress,  or  to  be  im- 
pressed by,  another  mind  otherwise  than  by  means  of 


140    DREAMS,  NIGHTMARE,  AND  SOMNAMBULISM 

the  recognized  channels  of  sense.  Of  course  dreams 
have  a  bearing  upon  this  subject,  and  to  them  the 
Society  has  paid  a  great  deal  of  attention. 

The  Society,  as  represented  in  the  two  bulky  vol- 
umes entitled  "  Phantasms  of  the  Living,"  edited  by 
Edmund  Gurney,  Frederic  W.  H.  Myers,  and  Frank 
Podmore,  does  not  claim  that  the  cases  which  they 
have  presented,  drawn  from  dreams,  would  be  suffi- 
cient to  prove  the  truth  of  telepathy.  They  confess 
that  they  are  on  doubtful  ground,  and  say: 

For  (1)  the  details  of  the  reality,  when  known,  will  be  very- 
apt  to  be  read  back  into  the  dream,  through  the  general  ten- 
dency to  make  vague  things  distinct ;  and  (2)  the  great  multitude 
of  dreams  may  seem  to  afford  almost  limitless  scope  for  acci- 
dental correspondences  of  a  dream  with  an  actual  occurrence 
resembling  the  one  dreamt  of.  Any  answer  to  this  last  objec- 
tion must  depend  on  statistics,  which,  tintil  lately,  there  has 
been  no  attempt  to  obtain ;  and  though  an  answer  of  a  sort  can 
be  given,  it  is  not  such  a  one  as  would  justify  us  in  basing  a 
theory  of  telepathy  on  the  facts  of  dreams  alone. 

They  acknowledge  that,  dreams  being  often  some- 
what dim  and  shapeless  things,  "  subsequent  know- 
ledge of  events  may  easily  have  the  effect  of  giving 
body  and  definiteness  to  the  recollection  of  a  dream." 
They  concede  that  ''millions  of  people  dream  every 
night,  and  in  dreams,  if  anywhere,  the  range  of  pos- 
sibilities seems  infinite."  But  when  they  come  to  pre- 
sent the  subsequent  cases,  their  reasoning  upon  them 
is  in  many  instances  unscientific  in  its  destitution  of 
rigor.  For  example,  in  cases  of  partial  fultilment 
where  a  person  dreamed  of  death,  and  the  dream  did 
not  occur  until  a  number  of  hours  after  the  death, 
they  call  that  a  deferment  of  percipienee.  They  say 
that  the  impression  when  it  first  arrived  ''was  unable; 
to  compete  at  the  moment  with  the  vivid  sensory  im- 
pressions and  the  crowd  of  ideas  and  images  that  had 


DREAMS,  NIGHTMARE,  AND  SOMNAMBULISM     141 

belonged  to  normal  senses  and  waking  life,  and  that 
it  may  thus  remain  latent  until  darkness  and  quiet 
give  a  chance  for  its  development."  The  same  sort 
of  reasoning  might  be  applied  to  account  for  the  fact 
that  such  information  is  not  universally  communi- 
cated. It  is  flying  about  loose  in  the  heavens  and 
in  the  earth ;  but,  not  being  able  to  compete  with  the 
crowd  of  images  in  any  except  few  cases,  does  not 
generally  materijilize. 

When  they  come  to  cases  where  the  dreams  con- 
tain the  general  feature  of  conversation  between  the 
dreamer  and  the  agent,  they  say,  '^  This  is,  of  course,  a 
clear  instance  of  something  superadded  by  the  dream- 
ers own  activity";  and  when  the  circumstances  of 
the  death  do  not  concur  with  it,  they  claim  a  fulfil- 
ment, and  attribute  a  failure  to  agree  to  a  death 
imagery  superadded  by  the  independent  activity  of 
the  dreamer. 

"Where  a  woman  dreams  twice  of  death  and  it  is  ful- 
filled, and  she  also  has  the  candor  to  state  that  on  an- 
other occasion  she  dreamed  of  a  death  and  nothing 
came  of  it,  they  say : 

The  absence  of  any  ascertained  coincidence  on  the  third  occa- 
sion miglit  be  represented  as  an  argument  for  regardin<^  the  cor- 
respondence on  the  two  previous  occasions  as  accidental,  but  it 
would  bo  a  very  weak  one ;  since  even  if  the  dream  liad  recurred 
a  thousand  times,  the  chances  against  the  accidental  occur- 
rences of  two  such  coincidences  would  still  remain  enormous. 

Many  of  the  cases  they  cite  depend  upon  vague  mem- 
ory, and  others  do  not  supply  adequate  particulars. 

Their  general  method  of  writing  about  these  dreams 
and  of  the  whole  theory  of  telepathy  is  that  of  an 
affectionate  mother  lingering  over  her  child,  and 
wlicrever  coddling  is  necessary  doing  it  con  (iniorc 
There  are  two  radical  defects  to  be  seen  in  the  entire 


142    DREAMS,  NIGHTMARE,  AND  SOMNAlVmULISM 

method:  First,  not  a  tweiitiotli  part  of  the  care  is 
takeu  in  the  investigation  of  the  cases  and  their  au- 
thentication which  would  be  required  for  a  case  of 
ordinary  importance  in  a  court  of  justice ;  secondly, 
the  use  of  the  so-called  docti'iue  of  chances  is  so  ludi- 
crous as  to  be  practically  a  burlesque  of  science.  They 
sent  to  5360  persons  taken  at  random,  asking  them  to 
state  whether  they  had  ever  had  a  dream  of  the  death 
of  some  person  known  to  them,  which  dream  was  an 
exceptionally  vivid  one,  and  of  which  the  distressing 
impression  lasted  an  hour  after  arising  in  the  morn- 
ing, at  any  time  within  the  twelve  years  1874  to  1885 
inclusive.  Of  these  173  answered  "  Yes."  It  would 
l)e  difficult  to  believe,  if  it  were  not  published  to  the 
world  on  the  authority  of  the  society,  that  any  one 
should  conclude  that  that  number  could  furnish  a 
basis  upon  which  to  ascertain  an  average  to  be  ap- 
plied to  the  whole  population ;  yet  they  do  so,  and  say 
that  it  is  as  satisfactory  as  the  proof  that  a  similar 
number  of  persons  taken  at  random  would  afford  on 
the  average  number  of  cases  of  short  sight  or  color- 
blindness. 

Short  sight  and  color-blindness  are  physical  condi- 
tions, depending  upon  physical  causes ;  dreams  are 
evanescent,  irregular,  depending  upon  phenomenal 
causes;  and  the  dream-images  of  a  single  family  in  a 
single  week  may  amount  to  hundreds  of  thousands, 
of  which  any  one  under  the  operations  of  laws  not 
subject  to  statistics  may  be  vividly  remembered. 

But  of  the  whole  number  of  173  who  had  vivid 
dreams  of  death,  there  were  only  24  where  the  event 
fell  within  12  hours  of  the  dream.  By  an  application 
of  the  law  of  chance  they  endeavor  to  maintain  that 
there  would  not  l)e  more  than  one  such  coincidence  in 
that  time,  and  that  therefore  ''twenty-four  is  twenty- 
four  times  larger  than  the  doctrine  of  chance  would 


DREAMS.  NIGHTMARE,  AND  SOMNAMBULISM    143 

have  allowed  us  to  expect."  As  well  might  the  law 
of  chance  be  applied  to  the  deterniiuatiou  of  the  num- 
ber of  thoughts  on  any  given  subject  that  would  nat- 
urally arise  in  one  or  more  minds  in  a  given  period. 

As  shown  in  Chapter  II,  the  "law  of  chance"  is  not 
capable  of  application  to  such  subjects.  Events  are 
continually  occurring,  whether  attention  is  directed  to 
them  or  not.  Of  all  possible  occurrences,  the  time, 
place,  and  manner  of  death  are  most  uncertain.  Hu- 
man lives  revolve  about  a  few  central  points — home, 
business,  health,  friends,  travel,  religion,  country. 
Dream-images  are  about  persons  and  things.  That 
there  can  be  millions  of  images  portrayed  in  the  gal- 
lery of  dreams,  and  that  the  great  nuijority  deal  with 
these  pivotal  points  of  human  life  and  human  thought, 
taken  in  connection  with  the  fact  that  all  the  events 
of  human  history,  past,  current,  and  future,  revolve 
about  these  same  points,  make  it  absolutely  certain 
that  the  number  of  coincidences  must  be  vast.  It  is, 
in  fact,  smaller  rather  than  larger  than  might  reason- 
ably ])e  expected. 

It  is  natural  that  a  large  proportion  of  dreams  of 
a  terrifying  nature  «hould  relate  to  deaths,  because  in 
death  center  all  grounds  of  anxiety  concerning  one's 
self  or  one's  friends.  As  death  is  the  king  of  terrors 
and  the  dream  state  often  a  disturbed  state,  death 
would  be  also  the  king  of  dreams. 

Of  the  173  who  declare  that  they  have  had  dis- 
tressing dreams,  only  24  experienced  fulfilment.  An 
exact  statement  of  the  situation  of  the  twenty-four 
persons  dreamed  about,  or  their  physical  condition 
and  circumstances,  would  be  as  essential  to  a  scien- 
tific estimate  as  the  condition  and  circumstances  of 
tlie  dreamer. 

The  recollection  of  dreams  dej)ends  much  upon 
habit  and   upon   tlu;   ])ra('tice  of   relating   tlicm.      I 


144    DREAMS,  NIGHTMARE,  AND  SOMNAMBULISM 

found  by  experience  that  this  had  a  tendency  to  per- 
petuate a  particular  dream.  For  twenty-five  years  I 
was  visited  at  iiTeguhir  intervals  by  a  dream  of  the 
death,  by  drownings,  of  my  brother  who  is  still  living. 
It  frequently  recurred  soon  after  I  had  told  it  Avith 
elaborateness  of  detail  to  another.  The  number  of 
appalling  dreams  that  come  to  nothing  is  very  great, 
where  the  vividness  of  details  sometimes  fairly  com- 
pels belief.  In  many  instances  a  dream  of  one's  death 
originates  in  a  profound  derangement  of  the  nervous 
system,  and  the  effect  of  such  a  dream  upon  that 
weakened  condition  may  be  fatal.  The  young  student 
to  whom  reference  has  been  made  came  of  a  family 
peculiai'ly  liable  to  instant  death  from  heart-disease. 
Since  that  period  his  only  brother  died  without  warn- 
ing, when  quietly,  as  it  was  supposed,  reposing  upon 
his  bed,  and  since  the  death  of  the  brother,  their 
mother  has  died  in  a  similar  manner.  The  dream 
was  so  vivid  that  the  young  man  believed  it,  and 
prepared  himself  for  it  in  mind  while  his  body  was 
depressed  by  the  natural  physical  effect.  Had  he 
been  treated  as  was  another  young  man  who  had  a 
similar  dream,  and  believed  it  as  implicitly,  he  might 
have  lived.  In  that  case  a  sagacious  physician,  find- 
ing evidences  that  death  was  near,  and  believing  the 
symptoms  to  be  caused  wholly  by  the  impression  that 
he  was  to  die,  administered  a  heavy  dose  of  chloro- 
form. When  the  young  man  l)ecame  conscious  and 
found  the  hour  fixed  upon  for  his  death  long  past,  he 
speedily  recovered. 

The  repetition  of  dreams  on  the  same  night  or  on 
other  nights  is  explained  by  the  impression  which 
thoy  make  ;  and  doubtless  the  number  3  has  literary 
and  i-eligious  ass(»('iati(>ns  which  liavc  an  effect  upon 
some  dreamers.  If  they  have  a  notion  that  3  is  the  num- 
ber for  significant  dreams,  when  they  have  dreamed 


DREAMS,  NIGHTMARE,  AND  SOMNAMBULISM     145 

the  same  thing  thrice  they  are  fully  aroused  and  sleep 
no  more.  This  is  not  always  the  case.  A  mem})er 
of  Congress  who  dreamed  that  his  only  daughter  died 
awoke  in  great  agitation,  but  on  composing  him- 
self to  sleep  the  dream  returned.  This  continued  for 
the  fourth  time,  and  even  until  the  ninth,  and  after 
each  recurrence  he  was  awakened :  in  the  morning, 
though  not  a  believer  in  dreams,  he  hastened  to 
his  home  in  a  western  State,  feeling  assured  that 
something  terrible  had  happened  or  was  about  to 
happen.  The  fii'st  person  whom  he  met  was  his 
daughter,  in  perfect  health. 

Coinciding  dreams  of  two  pers(ms  about  a  third 
are  often  not  fulfilled.  Aber(;rombie  gives  the  case 
of  a  young  man  and  his  mother  dreaming  substan- 
tially the  same  dream  the  same  night,  in  which  he 
told  her  that  he  was  going  on  a  long  journey,  and 
she  said,  "  Son,  thou  art  dead."  But  nothing  came 
of  the  dream.  A  young  man  not  far  from  New  York 
dreamed  that  his  father  was  being  burned  to  death  in 
a  hotel.  The  same  night  a  lady,  a  friend  of  the  fam- 
ily, dreamed  the  same.     Nothing  came  of  it. 

In  regard  to  the  dream  of  William  Tennent's  wit- 
nesses, the  following  points  may  be  noticed:  First, 
"  the  affau'  made  a  great  noise  in  the  colony  " ;  sec- 
ondly, Tennent,  Stevens,  and  Anderson  all  knew 
where  they  had  been  in  Pennsylvania  or  Maryland, 
and  it  was  easy  for  them  to  procure  witnesses  who 
could  conclusively  prove  their  innocence,  and  a  su- 
pernatural interference  was  not  necessary;  thirdly, 
the  delay  between  the  trial  of  Rowland  and  that 
of  Tennent  at  a  period  when  information  was  prin- 
cipally distributed  by  word  of  mouth,  taken  in  con- 
iK'ction  with  the  general  interest  in  tlu^  subject  of 
religion  at  that  time  and  thi;  excitement  produced 
by  the  preceding  trial,  reuden.'d  it  highlv  i)robable 
1:3 


146    DREAMS,  NIGHTMARE,  AND  SOMNAMBULISM 

that  all  of  every  community  where  Rowland  had 
preached  knew  about  these  facts.  The  account  can- 
not tell  much  about  these  witnesses,  or  even  whether 
the  preaching  and  the  dream  occurred  in  Penn- 
sylvania or  Maryland.  The  natural  explanation  of 
the  whole  proceeding  is  that  they  knew  the  facts 
and  had  talked,  or  heard  others  talk,  about  the  trial ; 
and  so  far  as  evidence  goes  they  had  themselves  con- 
versed about  it,  and  tlie  double  dream  was  a  mere 
coincidence.  Whether  this  be  true  or  not,  the  facts 
that  the  accounts  are  so  defective,  contradictory,  and 
improbable,  and  that  Mr.  Anderson  was  allowed  to 
be  convicted  and  punished  when  he  was  as  innocent 
as  Mr.  Tennent,  greatly  strengthen  the  natural  ex- 
planation of  the  entire  proceedings,  for  it  is  certain 
that  fortunate  coincidences  have  as  often  helped  sin- 
ners as  saints. 

In  the  ''  Princeton  Re\'iew"  for  July,  1868,  the  first 
article  is  a  discussion  of  the  trial  of  the  Rev.  William 
Tennent,  by  that  eminent  lawyer  and  Presbyterian, 
Chancellor  Henry  W.  Green  of  New  Jersey.  After 
an  elaborate  and  closely  analytical  investigation  of 
the  records,  to  which  he  had  complete  access,  he  shovv\s 
that  the  events  transpired  in  1742;  that  they  were 
first  reduced  to  writing  in  1805,  more  than  sixty  years 
after  they  had  occurred ;  and  that  the  narrative  lacks 
precision  and  certainty  in  all  its  details.  He  closes 
the  review  in  these  words :  ''  It  will  be  perceived  in 
what  we  have  said  we  have  taken  as  true  every  part 
of  the  narrative  which  is  not  shown  to  be  erroneous 
by  unquestionable  record  testimony,  or  by  circum- 
stances so  strong  as  to  compel  the  disbelief  of  a  fair 
and  impartial  man.  We  fully  admit  the  perfect 
integrity  of  all  the  witnesses,  whose  veracity  is  in- 
volved, the  ])erfe{'t  integrity  of  Mr.  Tennent,  his  un- 
qualified l)elief  in  all  the  statements  which  he  nuide. 


DREAMS,  NIGHTMARE,  AND  SOMNAMBULISM     147 

,  .  .  But  from  whatever  cause  the  errors  may  have 
arisen,  aud  whether  our  hypothesis  as  to  the  real 
facts  be  true  or  erroneous,  certain  it  is  that  the  nar- 
rative in  all  its  material  facts  and  circumstances  is 
either  established  by  the  record  to  be  untrue,  or  is 
rendered  by  the  facts  of  the  case  utterly  incredible. 
.  .  .  We  assert,  therefore,  with  perfect  confidence 
that  his  deliverance  was  not  effected  by  supernatural 
means,  and  that  the  attendance  of  the  witnesses  was 
not  procured  by  a  dream." 

The  possibilities  of  coincidence  in  human  affairs 
are  incomputable.  A  gentleman  residing  near  New 
York  remarked  to  a  friend  on  the  4th  of  February, 
1888,  "We  shall  have  snow  to-day."  There  was  not  a 
sign  of  it  then,  but  before  they  separated  snow  began 
to  fall.  "How  did  you  know  that  it  would  snow?" 
asked  the  friend.  The  sad  and  singular  answer  was, 
"  Forty-three  years  ago  to-day  I  buried  my  only  son. 
It  snowed  that  day  and  has  snowed  on  the  4th  day  of 
February  every  year  since,  and  I  felt  sure  that  it  would 
snow  to-day."  Let  those  who  fancy  that  the  law  of 
probabilities  is  of  any  value  when  applied  to  a  par- 
ticular day  ascertain  how  many  chances  there  were 
that  it  would  snow  for  forty-three  consecutive  years 
in  a  certain  part  of  the  country  on  the  4th  day  of 
February. 

Inquiry  of  the  passengers  on  numerous  ocean  voy- 
ages has  shown  that  not  a  ship  crosses  the  sea  upon 
which  there  is  not  some  passenger  who  had  a  dream 
that  the  ship  would  be  destroyed,  which  strongly 
tempted  him  to  remain  at  home;  or  was  warned  by  a 
friend,  who,  after  such  a  dream,  prophesied  disaster ; 
or  which  had  not  left  behind  soine  intending  passen- 
ger d(^terred  by  a  dream. 

Many  of  the  supposed  cases  of  fulfilment  of  dreams, 
and  where  the  coincidences  are  most  startling,  relate 


148    DREAMS,  NIGHTMARE,  AND  SOMNAMBULISM 

to  events  which  neither  man  nor  devil,  disembodied 
spirit  nor  angel,  could  foreknow  if  true,  since  neither 
the  events  nor  their  causes  were  in  existence  in  the 
universe;  and  the  fulfilment  depended  upon  actions 
involving  juxtapositions  which  could  not  have  been 
foreseen  by  any  finite  being,  as  they  were  themselves 
coincidences,  and  only  conceivable  as  foreknown  by 
God,  because  of  the  assumption  of  his  infinity. 


RATIONAL  USE   OF   DREAMS 

By  some  it  is  maintained  that  dreams  are  of  great 
value  in  the  argument  for  the  immortality  of  the  soul; 
the  short  method  being  that  they  prove  the  soul  im- 
material and  independent  of  the  body,  and  if  imma- 
terial then  immortal.  If  this  has  any  value  it  would 
apply  equally  to  animals. 

Others  have  held  that  we  are  responsible  for  our 
dreams.  An  article  in  the  ''  Journal  of  Psycliological 
Medicine"  for  July,  18-19,  says  that  we  are  as  respon- 
sible for  our  dreams  as  for  our  waking  thoughts; 
just  as  much  so  as  we  are  told  we  shall  bo  at  the 
great  tribunal  for  every  idle  word.  And  anotlier 
writer  affirms  that  in  dreams  each  man's  character  is 
disintegrated  so  that  he  may  see  the  elements  of  whicli 
it  is  composed.  But  few  dreams  are  more  absurd 
than  such  conceptions  of  them  as  these.  Oluttony, 
evil  thoughts,  intemperance,  vigils,  and  anxiety  may 
affect  dreams,  but  the  responsibility  is  for  the  glut- 
tony and  other  vices  and  sins ;  the  dreams  are  simply 
the  incidental  results.  Many  most  devout  persons 
who  have  been  unduly  excited  in  religious  work  have 
been  terrified  and  driven  almost  to  doubt  their  accej)t- 
ance  Avitli  God  l)y  the  fearful  dreams  of  an  imi)ure 
or  immoral  character  wliich  have  made  their  niclits 


DREAMS,  NIGHTMARE,  AND  SOMNAMBULISM    149 

hideous.  Religious  biography  abounds  with  such  ac- 
counts. The  sufferers  have  attributed  them  to  the 
devil,  of  whom  one  of  them  naively  said,  **  The  evil 
spirit,  having  no  hope  of  succeeding  with  me  by  day, 
attacks  me  in  sleep.''  Intellectual  persons  of  seden- 
tary habits  have  also  been  troubled  in  this  way.  The 
explanation  in  such  cases  is  simple.  The  ''  Journal 
of  Psychological  Medicine  "  for  January,  1857,  says : 

When  persons  have  been  much  engaged  during  the  whole  day 
on  subjects  which  require  the  continued  exercise  of  the  intel- 
lectual and  moral  attributes,  they  may  induce  so  much  fatigue 
and  exhaustion  of  those  powers  that  when  they  are  asleep,  to 
their  subsequent  sorrow  and  surprise,  they  may  have  the  most 
sensual  and  most  vicious  dreams. 

The  author  of  the  foregoing  proceeds  to  explain  the 
fact  upon  the  natural  principle  that  the  exhausted  in- 
tellectual faculties,  not  being  active  and  vigorous  in 
the  dream,  the  intellect  received  imperfect  impres- 
sions ;  while  the  animal  propensities,  having  been  in 
a  state  of  comparative  inactivity,  manifested  greater 
activity. 

In  the  case  of  great  religious  excitement,  the  prin- 
ciple embodied  in  the  stern  saying  of  a  writer,  that 
"  When  one  passion  is  on  fire,  the  rest  will  do  well  to 
send  for  the  buckets,"  is  a  sufficient  explanation.  The 
intellect  and  the  will  being  subdued  by  sleep,  the 
generally  excited  condition  of  the  brain  and  the  ner- 
vous system  produces  a  riot  in  the  imagination. 

Some  rely  upon  dreams  for  evidence  of  acceptance 
with  God,  and  of  God's  love.  Where  they  have  other 
evidences  and  sound  reason,  they  do  not  need  the 
help  of  dreams.  When  destitute  of  other  evidences, 
it  has  been  observed  that  their  conduct  is  frequently 
such  as  no  Christian,  and  sometimes  as  no  moral 
person,  could  safely  imitate. 


150    DREAMS,  NIGHTMAEE,  AND  SOMNAMBULISM 

Oue  of  the  best  observations  in  favor  of  dreams  is 
by  David  Hartley,  M.  D. 

The  wildness  of  our  dreams  seems  of  singular  use  to  us,  by 
interrupting  and  breaking  the  course  of  our  associations.  For 
if  we  were  always  awake,  some  accidental  associations  would 
be  so  much  cemented  by  continuance,  as  that  nothing  could 
afterwards  disjoin  them,  wliich  would  be  madness. 

Nevertheless,  I  would  prefer  to  take  the  risk  of 
apparently  dreamless  sleep. 

A  marked  increase  in  the  number  or  change  in 
the  character  of  dreams  should  be  seriously  consid- 
ered. They  are  sometimes  the  precursors  of  a  general 
nervous  and  mental  prostration.  In  such  cases  habits 
of  diet  and  exercise,  work  and  rest,  should  be  exam- 
ined. If  dreams  which  depress  the  nervous  energies 
and  render  sleep  unrefreshing  recur  frequently,  medi- 
cal counsel  should  be  taken.  The  habit  of  remember- 
ing and  narrating  dreams  is  pernicious ;  to  act  upon 
them  is  to  surrender  rational  self-control. 

A  gentleman  of  Boston  who  travels  much  is  in  the 
habit  of  dreaming  often  of  sickness  and  death  in  his 
family.  He  always  telegraphs  for  information,  but 
has  had  the  misfortune  never  to  dream  of  the  critical 
events,  and  to  be  away  from  home  when  they  came  to 
pass.  Still,  like  one  infatuated  with  lotteries,  he  con- 
tinues to  believe  in  dreams.  Another,  whose  dreams 
are  equally  numerous  and  pertinent,  never  so  much  as 
gives  them  a  thought,  and  has  had  the  good  fortune 
to  be  near  his  family  whenever  urgently  needed. 

An  extraordinary  dream  relating  to  probable  f)r 
possible  events  may  be  analyzed,  and  anything  which 
seems  of  importance  in  it  from  its  own  nature  or  th(i 
way  things  are  stated,  may  wisely  be  made  a  subject 
of  reflection.  But  to  take  a  step  upon  a  dream  wliich 
would  not  be  taken  without  it  allies  him  wlio  does  it 
to  every  superstition  that  stultifies  the  godlike  faculty 
of  reason. 


PRESENTIMENTS,  VISIONS,  AND 
APPARITIONS 


One  question  more  than  others  all 
Of  thoughtful  minds  implores  reply : 

It  is,  as  breathed  from  star  and  pall, 
"  What  fate  awaits  us  when  we  die  f " 


IF  these  words  are  true,  certainly  next  in  importu- 
nate demand  is  whether  men  shall  direct  their 
conduct  by  practical  wisdom  and  right  motives,  or 
look  for  and  follow  occult  intimations  which  may 
either  confirm  or  contradict  the  judgment. 

Exclusive  of  the  sphere  of  true  religion, —  which 
does  not  claim  to  be  an  infallible  guide  except  to  re- 
pentance, purity  of  motive,  and  the  life  beyond, — 
omens,  premonitions,  presentiments,  visions,  and  ap- 
paritions have  exerted  the  greatest  influence  over  the 
decisions  and  actions  of  mankind. 

Omens  are  extraordinary  events  which,  on  account 
of  the  opinions  held  of  them,  are  thought  to  pre- 
sage disaster.  They  are  not  true  presentiments,  but 
generalizations  from  imperfect  data.  Astrology  and 
divination  exhibit  on  a  large  scale  the  fallacies  un- 
derlying such  conclusions,  belief  in  them  being  sus- 
tained by  the  observation  of  occasional  coincidences 
between  events  and  preceding  actions  or  conditions 
that  coidd  have  had  no  causal  connection  with  them. 
Dreams  often  afford  similar  materials  for  erroneous 

151 


152    PRESENTIMENTS,  VISIONS,  AND  APPAEITIONS 

reasonings,  and,  as  they  originate  in  the  mind,  they 
are  sometimes  so  siniihir  to  presentiments  tliat  it  is 
impossible  to  deeide  whether  a  presentiment  caused 
the  dream,  or  a  dream  the  presentiment. 


"WHAT   IS   A   PRESENTIMENT? 

A  PRESENTIMENT  in  the  strictly  etymological  sense  is 
a  previous  conception,  sentiment,  opinion,  or  appre- 
hension; but  its  secondary  meaning,  which  has  almost 
supplanted  the  primar}-,  in  both  the  French  and  the 
English  use  of  the  word,  is  an  antecedent  impression 
or  conviction  of  something  about  to  happen.  Though 
presentiments  of  good  are  common  and  often  fulfilled, 
as  their  results  are  not  tragical  they  are  seldom  re- 
membered or  attributed  to  supernatural  causes ;  and 
for  this  reason  the  word  presentiment  is  confined  al- 
most exclusively  to  inward  premonitions  of  evil,  and 
is  practically  the  equivalent  of  ''  foreboding  "  in  such 
passages  as  Dryden's,  "  My  heart  forebodes  I  ne'er 
shall  see  you  more." 

Few  would  consider  general  forebodings  of  evil 
worthy  of  special  investigation.  To  some  tempera- 
ments they  are  peculiar,  and  prosperity,  however 
great,  cannot  dissipate  them.  They  may  arise  from 
overwork,  old  age,  or  from  prolonged  sickness  of  any 
kind  except  con.sumption;  and  as  evil  overtakes  the 
majority  of  mankind,  such  general  forebodings  are 
certain  of  general  fulfilment.  It  is  only  when  time 
and  events  concur  with  the  i)resentiment  that  it  be- 
comes a  plienomenon  requiring  scientific  treatment; 
and  being  a  product  of  the  mind  allied  to  many  other 
experiences,  it  is  a  philosophical  problem  of  tlie  first 
magnitude. 

A  writer  in  the  "  Cornhill  Magazine  "  for  October, 


PRESENTIMENTS,  VISIONS,  AND  APPAEITIONS    153 

1886,  attempts  to  lay  down  the  essence  of  a  true  pre- 
sentiment. He  says  that  "  it  must  be  spontaneous;  it 
must  come  at  a  time  when  you  have  no  reason  to  look 
for  it."  He  explains  these  conditions  by  saying  that 
you  must  not  be  ill  and  think  you  have  a  presenti- 
ment that  you  will  not  recover;  you  must  not  be 
away  from  home  and  think  that  some  calamity  has 
hapj)ened  there ;  you  must  not  know  that  a  friend  is 
in  danger  and  have  a  presentiment  of  his  death ;  you 
must  not  have  reason  to  suspect  a  man  and  have  a 
presentiment  that  he  will  cheat  you. 

In  laying  down  these  conditions  he  justifies  him- 
self by  saying  that  they  are  necessary,  "because  in  all 
these  instances  there  is  a  simple  natural  cause  for 
fear  or  uneasiness."  I  cannot  admit  that  all  these 
conditions  are  exact.  The  person  may  indeed  be  sick, 
yet  the  illness  may  be  slight,  and  its  seat  removed 
from  any  fatal  possibility ;  and  if  in  opposition  to 
every  indication  he  have  a  foreboding  that  he  will  not 
recover,  which  persists  in  defiance  of  reason,  and  does 
or  does  not  end  in  death,  it  has  the  mental  and  emo- 
tional characteristics  of  a  presentiment.  Of  course  if 
a  person  have  yellow  fever,  and  a  presentiment  of  his 
death,  it  is  in  harmony  with  popular  belief;  though, 
according  to  the  statistics  of  the  last  epidemic  in  Jack- 
sonville, the  proportion  of  deaths  is  but  one  to  ten 
cases,  Jind  the  rational  expectation  would  be  that 
an  ordinary  person  attacked  had  nine  chances  in  ten 
for  recovery.  Again,  if  a  person  leaves  his  family  in 
perfect  health,  knowing  no  cause  of  danger  either  to 
them  or  to  his  property,  and  has  a  presentiment  im- 
pelling him  to  go  back,  and  on  arriving  finds  his  worst 
fears  realized,  although  his  peculiar  state  of  mind 
arose  during  an  absence  from  home,  it  has  the  char- 
acteristics of  a  presentiment,  both  in  its  origin  and 
the  relation  of  time  and  events. 


154    PRESENTIMENTS,  VISIONS,  AND  APPAEITIONS 

Couclusious  drawn  from  reasoning  and  generaliza- 
tions from  data  may  produce  convictions  so  strong 
that  men  would  die  for  tliem.  Under  their  influence 
they  may  risk  their  lives  and  fortunes  in  the  pursuit 
of  objects  which  cannot  be  attained,  if  at  all,  until 
after  many  years.  These  are  not  presentiments,  for 
the  sum  of  the  reasonings  and  experiences  of  the 
man  becomes  the  unconscious  test  which  he  applies 
to  everything  submitted  to  his  judgment. 

But  if  there  be  genuine  presentiments  which  fore- 
tell future  events,  they  must  have  an  external  source, 
human  or  extrahuman.  That  God  could  produce 
such  impressions  none  who  admit  his  existence  can 
doubt.  Whether  other  beings,  in  or  out  of  human 
bodies,  could  do  so  is  an  uuproven  theory.  Clairvoy- 
ance and  telepathy  do  not  apply  to  the  subject  of  pi-e- 
sentiments  in  the  sense  now  under  consideration. 
The  clairvoyant  theory  of  perception  is  the  power 
to  read  the  past,  discern  the  present,  and  forecast  the 
future ;  that  of  telepathy,  a  transfer  of  ideas  and  feel- 
ings spontaneously  or  intentionally  from  a  living  per- 
son called  the  agent  to  another  called  the  percipient. 

Most  persons  holding  that  God  could  at  any  time 
create  a  presentiment  will  incline  to  the  comfortable 
belief  that  he  sometimes  does  so,  and  that  this  is  one 
of  the  means  wiiereby  he  cares  for  those  wlio  put 
their  trust  in  him.  But  the  fact  that  God  can  pro- 
duce presentiments  is  not  in  itself  an  evidence,  nor 
does  it  even  rise  to  the  dignity  of  a  presumption,  that 
he  will  produce  them.  He  could  preserve  all  his  ser- 
vants from  destruction  by  sea  or  by  land ;  he  could 
impart  to  all  his  people  a  knowledge  of  future  events; 
but  he  does  not.  The  righteous  often  die  in  the  pes- 
tilence and  in  calamities  at  sea;  the  wicked  may  es- 
cape, while  those  who  pray  sink. 

While  it  w^ould  be  presumptuous  to  afTirm  that  no 


PRESENTIMENTS,  VISIONS,  AND  APPARITIONS    155 

such  presentiment  as  we  are  considering  is  ever  im- 
parted by  the  Spirit  of  God  to  human  beings,  two 
propositions  may  be  supported  without  irreverence: 
first,  that  the  human  mind  without  special  influence 
from  God  or  other  beings  may  originate  presenti- 
ments; second,  that  the  probability  is  that  this  is 
their  true  explanation. 


UNSUSPECTED  MENTAL  RESOURCES 

Self-esteem  is  common  and  self-conceit  general, 
yet  few  persons  have  an  adequate  idea  of  the  re- 
soiu'ces  of  their  own  minds.  Most  fancy  that  what 
they  recollect  is  the  measure  of  what  they  know ; 
whereas,  in  addition  to  every  fact  or  idea  that  any 
person  remembers,  there  are  countless  others  which 
have  Qntered  his  mind,  and  are  liable  at  any  moment 
to  cross  the  plane  of  his  consciousness.  He  who, 
when  a  thought  arises,  will  ask,  "  How  came  I  to 
think  of  this?"  in  the  effort  to  trace  the  successive 
steps  by  which  the  mind  traveled  from  the  last  con- 
scious thought  or  experience  to  that  which  is  the  sub- 
ject of  retrospection,  will  be  compelled  to  conclude 
that  these  lightning-like  movements  of  the  mind  have 
as  often  been  directed  by  associations  of  which  we 
are  unconscious  as  by  those  whose  significance  and 
relations  are  perceived.  Experiments  to  determine 
the  rapidity  of  thought,  by  uttering  a  sentence  or 
command  and  noting  the  time  before  the  rational 
perception  of  it  is  manifest,  are  deceptive,  because 
they  involve  the  rate  of  motion  of  the  senses,  which 
is  slow  compared  with  the  movement  of  ideas  in  the 
mind. 

Revery  frecjuently  affects  the  emotions  powerfully, 
an<l  produces  an  influtMice  which  is  felt  for  days,  and 


156     PRESENTIMENTS,  VISIONS,  AND  APPARITIONS 

even  months,  after  the  mind,  cahnly  reflecting,  rejects 
the  idea  that  there  is  any  cause  for  the  depression.  A 
common  experience  of  foreign  travelers  is  that  the 
mind  runs  over  the  whole  field  of  personal  interest,  il- 
luminating it  as  with  flashes,  bringing  before  him 
who  pursues  his  way  ''  remote,  unfriended,  melan- 
choly, slow,"  vivid  thoughts  of  home  and  friends. 
Such  pensive  states  are  often  accompanied  by  intense 
concern,  which  crystallizes  into  conviction,  that  death 
or  some  other  calamity  has  already  taken  place. 
Thousands  of  letters  and  many  telegraphic  despatches 
inspired  by  such  feelings  cross  the  sea  every  summer, 
to  elicit  responses  indicating  that  there  is  no  occa- 
sion for  anxiety.  Many  business  men  will  also  ac- 
knowledge that  at  different  times  in  the  course  of 
their  careei's,  for  reasons  which  they  have  not  been 
able  to  fathom,  an  impression  of  impending  calamity 
has  possessed  them,  which  was  so  strong  as  to  make 
them  ready  to  dispute  the  truth  of  the  trial  balance 
showing  them  solvent  and  prosperous. 

The  observation  of  the  reader  will  doubtless  fur- 
nish instances  of  persons  whose  forebodings  of 
calamity — sometimes  confirmed  by  tlie  event,  but 
oftener  otherwise  —  are  recognized  by  their  business 
partners  and  friends,  and  call  for  the  exercise  of  pa- 
tience and  the  use  of  every  means  to  dissipate  the 
mysterious,  unwelcome,  and  paralyzing  impression, 
A  manufacturer  whose  name  is  known  in  every  city 
in  the  Union,  and  in  most  foreign  countries,  whose 
riches  are  estimated  at  many  millions,  employees 
numbered  by  thousands,  charities  munificent,  piety 
undoubted,  and  sanity  unquestioned,  has  had  presen- 
timents of  disaster  a  score  of  times  within  the  last 
t\venty-fiv(^  years,  not  one  of  which  has  l)een  fulfilled; 
but  all,  while  they  lasted,  were  as  intense  and  over- 
powering as  any  could  be. 


PRESENTIMENTS,  VISIONS,  AND   APPAKITIONS     157 

Two  other  mental  phenomena  must  be  observed. 
No  discipline,  however  protracted  and  rigid,  can  ex- 
clude thoughts  which  start  mysteriously  concerning 
life,  business,  home,  friends,  investments,  etc.  The 
mathematician  may  be  engaged  in  solving  the  most 
intricate  problems,  the  theologian  in  preparing  dis- 
courses, the  essayist  in  the  flow  of  composition,  the 
accountant  in  adding  a  column  of  figures,  but  none 
of  these  can  be  certain  of  fifteen  consecutive  minutes 
undisturbed  by  ideas  or  impressions  almost  as  vivid 
as  a  living  personality.  The  superiority  of  the  dis- 
ciplined to  the  undisciplined  mind  consists  chiefly  in 
ability  to  expel  the  intruder,  and  not  in  exemption 
from   such  visits. 

The  other  phenomenon  is,  that  the  mind,  in  a  vol- 
untary or  an  involuntary  review  of  the  situation,  will 
frequently  pause  upon  one  phase  of  it,  which  will  pre- 
dominate over  others  without  any  apparent  reason. 
A  parent  absent  from  home  may  be  particularly  anx- 
ious about  one  of  three  children,  and  be  for  weeks 
under  the  shadow  of  a  causeless  fear.  As  every  men- 
tal state  must  have  a  cause,  in  the  lal)yrinth  of  asso- 
ciated ideas  and  feelings,  some  occasion  must  exist ; 
but  introspection  may  never  reveal  it.  To  demon- 
strate that  the  mind  cannot  originate  presentiments 
is,  therefore,  impossible;  and  we  are  brought  to  the 
question  whether,  in  the  number  or  character  of  such 
presentiments,  there  be  convincing  evidence  that  they 
have  a  supernatural  origin. 

Many  experiences  called  presentiments  are  not  of 
that  nature.  Dr.  Forbes  Winslow's  "Psychological 
Journal"  gives  a  tragic  account  of  a  j)resentiment 
to  the  great  master  of  kings,  Tallevrand.  Dr.  Sig- 
m(tnd  riiceived  it  from  the  widow  of  the  ])rivate  secre- 
tary and  friend  of  Talleyrand,  M.  (•omai^he.  It  shows 
signs  of  having  ])een  written  afterward  and  embel- 
14 


158     PRESENTIMENTS,  VISIONS,  AND  APPARITIONS 

lislied.  Talleyrand  said,  "Upon  one  occasion  I  was 
gifted  for  a  single  moment  with  an  unknown  and 
mysterious  power."  He  had  fled  from  France  with 
an  intimate  friend  named  Beaumetz.  They  had  ar- 
rived in  New- York  together,  and  considering  that 
they  could  not  return  to  France,  decided  to  improve 
the  little  money  that  was  left  by  speculation,  and 
freiglited  a  small  vessel  for  India.  Bills  were  all  paid 
and  farewells  taken ;  but  there  was  a  delay  of  some 
days  for  a  fair  wind,  during  which  the  time  of  the  de- 
parture was  uucertaiii.  Beaumetz  was  iiTitated  to  an 
extraordinary  degree,  and  unable  to  remain  quietly  at 
home.  He  hurried  back  and  forth  from  the  city  with 
an  eager,  restless  activity.  He  had  ever  been  remark- 
able for  great  calmness  and  placidity  of  temper.  One 
day  he  entered,  evidently  laboring  under  great  excite- 
ment, though  trying  to  seem  calm.  Talleyrand  was 
writing  letters  to  Europe.  Beaumetz,  with  forced 
gaiety,  said:  "What  need  to  waste  time  penning 
those  letters?  They  will  not  reach  their  destination. 
Let  us  take  a  turn  on  the  Battery.  The  wind  may  be 
chopping  round;  we  may  be  nearer  our  departure 
than  we  imagine."  The  language  in  which  the  de- 
nouement is  described  is  graphic : 


"We  walked  through  the  crowded  streets  to  the  Battery.  He 
had  seized  my  arm  and  hurried  me  along,  seemingly  in  eager 
haste  to  advance.  We  had  arrived  at  the  broad  esplanade,  the 
glory  then,  as  now,  of  New-York.  Beaumetz  quickened  his 
stops  still  more  until  we  arrived  close  to  the  water's  edge.  He 
talked  louil  and  quickly,  admiring  in  energetic  terms  the 
beauty  of  the  scenery,  the  Brooklyn  Heights,  the  shady  groves 
of  the  island,  the  ships  riding  at  anchor,  and  the  busy  scene  on 
the  peopled  wharf,  when  suddenly  ho  paused  in  his  mad,  inco- 
lierent  discourse,  for  I  liad  freed  my  arm  from  liis  grasp,  and 
stood  immovable  before  him.  Staying  his  wild  and  ra])id  steps, 
I  fixed  my  eye  upon  his  face.  He  turned  aside,  cowed  and  dis- 
mayed.    "Beaumetz,"  I  shouted,   "you  mean   to  murder  me. 


PRESENTIMENTS,  VISIONS,  AND  APPARITIONS     IHO 

You  intend  to  tlirow  nie  from  the  height  into  tlio  sea  below. 
Deny  it,  monster,  if  you  can."  The  maniac  stared  at  me  for  a 
moment,  but  I  took  especial  care  not  to  avert  my  gaze  from  his 
countenance,  and  he  quailed  beneath  it.  He  stammered  a  few 
incoherent  words,  and  strove  to  pass  me,  but  I  barred  his  pas- 
sage with  extended  arms.  He  looked  vacantly  right  and  left, 
and  then  flung  himself  iipon  my  neck  and  burst  into  tears. 
"  'T  is  true,  't  is  true,  my  friend.  The  thought  has  haunted  mo 
day  and  night  like  a  flash  from  the  lurid  fire  of  hell.  It  was  for 
this  I  brought  you  here.  Look !  You  stand  within  a  foot  of  the 
edge  of  the  parapet.  In  another  instant  the  work  would  have 
been  done."  The  demon  had  left  him.  His  eye  was  unsettled, 
and  the  white  foam  stood  in  bubbles  on  his  white  lips,  but  he 
was  no  longer  tossed  by  the  same  mad  excitement  under  which 
he  had  been  laboring,  for  he  suffered  me  to  lead  him  home  with- 
out a  single  word.  A  few  days'  repose,  bleeding,  abstinence, 
completely  restored  him  to  his  former  self,  and,  what  is  more 
extraordinary,  the  circumstance  was  never  mentioned  between 
us.     My  Fate  was  at  work. 


What  there  is  in  this  narrative  to  imply  anything 
extraordinary,  in  view  of  the  extraordinary  circum- 
stances, I  am  unable  to  perceive.  Beaumetz  had  been 
unusually  calm;  he  became  greatly  excited.  Every 
action  he  performed  and  every  word  he  said,  for  sev 
eral  days,  was  sufficient  to  excite  alarm  as  to  his  men- 
tal condition.  He  was  on  the  verge  of  an  attack  of 
acute  mania.  That  Talleyrand  had  recognized  his 
condition  to  some  extent  is  apparent;  that  his  mind 
perceived  the  danger,  and  that  he  took  the  only  nat- 
ural course  to  escape,  is  also  clear ;  and  the  history  of 
lunatic  asylums  abounds  in  accounts  by  friends  or 
attendants  of  their  discerning  at  the  right  moment 
that  the  maniac  meant  to  perpetrate  a  tragic  deed. 
In  some  instances  it  has  been  foreseen,  and  the  wife, 
after  predicting  her  own  death  at  his  hands,  has 
succumbed  to  the  maniacal  fury  of  the  once  loving 
husband  rather  than  allow  him  to  be  i)laced  under 
restraint.     A  case  of  this  kind,  originating  in  the 


160    PRESENTIMENTS,  VISIONS,  AND  APPARITIONS 

highest  circles  of  American  society,  aud  cuhiiiuating 
in  Europe,  has  startled  the  world  within  a  few  years. 


IMPRESSIONS  AND   "IMPERATIVE  CONCEPTIONS" 

Impressions  are  closely  allied  to  presentiments, 
and  many  persons,  both  devout  and  uudevout,  yield 
to  their  influence.  Baseball  pitchers,  prize-fighters, 
soldiers,  and  politicians  are  subject  to  them.  The 
celebrated  Dr.  Nathan  Bangs,  a  minister  of  great  in- 
fluence and  strength  of  character,  early  in  life  was 
accustomed  to  believe  in  and  follow  impressions. 
The  manner  in  which  he  was  delivered  from  the  fear 
of  them  is  described  in  Stevens's  "Life  of  Bangs," 
page  101 : 

On  a  certain  occasion,  when  the  weather  was  very  cold  and 
the  snow  deep,  the  mind  of  Dr.  Bangs  became  more  than  usually 
impressed  with  the  value  of  souls.  As  he  rode  along  he  came 
opposite  a  dwelling  which  stood  quite  a  distance  back  in  the 
field,  and  instantly  he  became  impressed  with  the  thought  that 
he  ought  to  go  and  talk  and  pray  with  that  family.  He  was  in 
a  feeble  condition,  no  path  had  been  made  to  the  house,  and  he 
knew  it  woidd  be  dangerous  for  him  to  wade  that  distance  and 
expose  himself  to  the  cold.  So  he  resisted  the  impression  and 
passed  on ;  but  no  sooner  had  he  passed  the  house  tliaii  it  be- 
came doubly  strong,  and  "  he  finally  tamed  liack,  tied  his  horse 
to  the  fence,  waded  through  the  snow  to  the  house,  and  not  a 
soul  was  there ! " 


His  friend  and  successor  in  Canada.  Dr.  Fitch 
Reed,  who  communicated  these  facts  to  Dr.  Stevens. 
says,  "  From  that  time  he  resolved  never  to  confide  in 
mere  iwpressions." 

A  ludicrous  instance  of  an  impression  connected 
with  a  supposed  answer  to  prayer  was  notorious  in 


PRESENTIMENTS,  VISIONS,  AND  APPARITIONS    161 

the  city  of  New  York  forty  years  ago.  A  gentleman 
of  excellent  character  prayed  that  he  might  receive 
an  impression  from  God  when  he  should  come  into 
the  presence  of  the  person  who  would  make  him  a 
suitable  wife.  He  received  assurance  that  his  prayer 
would  be  answered,  and  tried  to  maintain  a  devout 
and  expectant  frame  of  mind.  The  months  passed 
without  a  sign,  but  one  day,  while  walking  up  Broad- 
way, he  saw  a  lady  walking  before  him  whose  mo- 
tions were  exceedingly  graceful,  and  instantly  came 
the  impression,  "  This  is  the  woman  whom  God  hath 
chosen  for  thee."  For  a  long  time  he  followed  her  in 
silence.  At  last  the  object  of  his  anxiety  turned  into 
a  side  street.  He  turned  also,  and  at  that  moment 
she  dropped  her  handkerchief.  He  hastened  forward 
to  take  it  from  the  ground,  and  as  she  lifted  her  veil 
to  thank  him  he  perceived  that  she  was  of  African  de- 
scent !  In  an  instant  his  faith  in  impressions  was  for- 
ever destroyed,  and  it  was  his  custom  in  speaking  of 
the  occurrence  to  say  that  he  had  learned  that  prayer 
could  not  be  substituted  for  common  sense. 

The  number  of  impressions  of  which  nothing  comes 
is  so  much  greater  than  those  which  appear  to  be  ful- 
filled as  to  satisfy  rational  minds  that  they  are  not  to 
be  relied  upon ;  and  this  requires  on  moral  grounds 
the  further  conclusion  that  they  are  not  of  supernat- 
ural origin. 

"Imperative  conceptions,"  kno^vn  among  the  in- 
sane, often  have  parallels  among  the  sane.  It  is 
common  for  lunatics  who  have  committed  some  atro- 
cious act  to  assign,  and  often  with  absolute  truth, 
that  "  it  had  to  be  done,"  or  that  they  ''  had  to  do  it." 
Certain  crimes  committed  by  the  sane  under  a  pow- 
erful influence  have  also  been  excused  upon  that 
ground,  when  a  just  view  would  show  that,  though 
strongly  impelled,  they  were  not  incapable  of  resist- 


162    PRESENTIMENTS,  VISIONS,  AND  APPARITIONS 

ing  the  impression,  and  were  therefore  responsible.  I 
venture  to  affirm  that  there  are  few  who  have  not  at 
some  time  in  their  lives  felt  almost  irresistibly  drawn 
to  perform  an  act,  make  a  decision,  or  utter  a  word 
which  they  knew  was  not  expedient;  but  the  convic- 
tion that  ''it  had  to  be  done"  predominated,  and  in 
many  instances  they  have  yielded.  Where  the  con- 
sequences are  not  serious  the  effects  may  still  be  evil, 
for  when  the  "ego"  yields  contrary  to  the  judgment 
its  power  of  resistance  is  lessened.  These  imperative 
impressions,  which  in  the  purely  insane  absolve  from 
guilt,  are  often  seen  in  their  germs  in  the  conduct  of 
children  who  are  dominated  by  their  imaginations 
and  sensibilities. 

These  are  all  akin  to  the  state  of  mind  in  which  pre- 
sentiments arise.^ 


ANALYSIS  OF   TYPICAL  PRESENTIMENTS 

Presentiments  concerning  hours  of  death  have 
sometimes  been  defeated  by  deceiving  their  subjects. 
Well-authenticated  instances  exist  of  chloroforming 
those  who  had  made  preparation  for  death,  but  whose 
gloomy  apprehension  was  dispelled  when  they  found 
that  the  time  had  passed  and  they  were  still  living. 

J  Dr.  Henry  M.  Hurd,  long  the  justly  distinguished  superin- 
tendent of  the  Eastern  Michigan  Asylum  for  the  Insane  at 
Pontiae,  and  now  superintendent  of  Johns  Hopkins  General 
Hospital,  Baltimore,  Md.,  in  speaking  of  imperative  conceptions 
says:  "  By  this  term  is  understood  a  mental  concept  or  impres- 
sion, arising  in  the  mind  without  external  cause,  or  an  emotional 
basis,  or  logical  connection  with  any  previous  train  of  thought, 
which  dominates  the  will  and  often  compels  to  actions  which 
are  known  to  be  ludicrous  or  improper,  or  contrary  to  the  judg- 
ment of  the  individual.  The  imperative  conception  differs  from 
the  delusion  in  the  fact  that  it  is  not  elaborated  l)y  any  process 


PRESENTIMENTS,  VISIONS,  AND  APPARITIONS    1G3 

The  case  of  the  dissipated  Lord  Lyttletoii,  wlio  was 
subject  to  '^  suffocating  fits,"  and  who  chiimed  that 
his  death  had  been  predicted  to  occur  in  three  days,  at 
twelve  o'clock,  midnight,  is  easily  explained.  On  the 
evening  of  that  night  some  of  his  friends  to  whom  he 
told  the  story  said,  when  he  was  absent  from  the  room, 
"  Lyttleton  will  frighten  himself  into  another  fit  with 
this  foolish  ghost  story";  and  thinking  to  prevent  it 
they  set  forward  the  clock  which  stood  in  the  room. 
When  he  returned  they  called  out,  ''  Hurrah,  Lyttle- 
ton! Twelve  o'clock  is  past,  you  've  jockeyed  the 
ghost ;  now  the  best  thing  to  do  is  to  go  quietly  to 
bed,  and  in  the  morning  you  will  be  all  right."  But 
they  had  forgotten  about  the  clock  in  the  parish 
church  tower,  and  when  it  began  slowly  tolling  the 
hour  of  midnight  he  was  seized  with  a  paroxysm  and 
died  in  great  agony.  The  opinion  of  those  who  knew 
the  circumstances  was  that  the  sudden  revulsion  of 
feeling  caused  such  a  reaction  as  to  bring  on  the  fit 
which  carried  him  off.  This  is  a  rational  view,  for 
when  one  nearly  dead  believes  that  he  is  about  to  die, 
the  incubus  of  such  an  impression  is  as  effective  as  a 
dirk-thrust  or  poison. 

Many  extraordinary  tales  are  told  of  presentiments 
on  the  eve  of  battle,  and  the  particulars  are  given; 
but  this  is  not  wonderful.     Soldiers  and  sailors  are 

of  reasoning,  and  does  not  commend  itself  to  the  reasonincr  or 
to  the  judgment.  .  .  .  It  is  not  necessnribj  an  evidence  of  iiisanitij, 
unless  it  persists  and  dominates  the  conduct  habitually.  All 
persons  have  imperative  conceptions  arising  spontaneously  in 
the  mind,  which  momentarily  influence  action  and  compel  at- 
tention." He  gives  as  illustrations  the  common  experience  of  an 
overpowering  impression  that  a  watch  has  not  been  wound,  or 
a  window  fastened,  or  that  some  other  regular  duty  has  not 
been  performed,  which  is  enough  to  destroy  a  person's  peace  of 
mind  after  he  has  retired,  and  compels  him  to  leave  his  bed  only 
to  find  that  there  is  no  foundation  for  the  impression. 


1G4    PEESENTIMENTS,  VISIONS,  AND  APPARITIONS 

proverbially  superstitious.  The  leisure  they  fre- 
quently have  favors  the  recital  of  marvelous  experi- 
ences; and  battles  depend  upon  so  many  contingencies, 
and  are  liable  to  be  controlled  by  such  inexplicable 
circumstances,  as  to  give  to  even  the  bravest  of  men 
a  tinge  of  superstition.  It  has  been  observed  that 
most  unrighteous  battles,  fought  against  an  oppressed 
people,  have  been  attended  by  victories  turning  upon 
circumstances  that  may  have  been  accidental ;  and 
that  the  most  heroic  patriotism  has  been  defeated  in 
the  same  way.  That  soldiers  should  have  presenti- 
ments is  not  strange ;  and  that  those  who  have  been 
exceedingly  fortunate  through  a  score  of  battles 
should  sometimes  in  moments  of  depression  conclude 
that  they  would  die  in  the  next  battle  is  not  extra- 
ordinary. In  these  voluminous  narratives  we  find 
little  or  nothing  of  presentiments  of  certain  escape, 
though  they  too  are  often  fulfilled  and  as  often  dis- 
appointed. 

A  correspondent  of  "  Notes  and  Queries,"  second 
series,  thirty-fourth  volume,  having  spent  several 
months  in  the  Crimea  during  the  severest  period  of 
the  bombardment,  says :  ''■  I  can  state  that  many  cases 
of  presentiment  were  fulfilled;  as  also  that  some  were 
falsified.  There  were  also  many  deaths  without  any  ac- 
companying presentiment  having  been  made  known." 
The  great  Turenne  exclaimed,  "  I  do  not  mean  to  be 
killed  to-day";  but  a  few  moments  afterward  he  was 
struck  down  in  battle  by  a  cannon-ball. 

The  possibilities  of  chance  in  the  fulfilment  of  pre- 
sentiments are  incomputable,  as  a  fact  which  occurred 
in  this  country  during  the  civil  war,  and  which  is 
known  by  thousands  yet  living  to  be  true,  may  serve 
to  show.  Joseph  C.  Baldwin,  a  young  gentleman  re- 
siding in  Newark,  N.  J.,  was  a  journalist  of  more  than 
local  fame.     He   wrote  under   several   pseudonyms. 


PRESENTIMENTS,  VISIONS,  AND  APPARITIONS     165 

one  of  which  was  ''Ned  Carrol,"  and  another  "Frank 
Greenwood."  The  articles  written  under  tlie  latter 
name  were  unlike  any  of  his  other  productions,  bein^ 
personal  and  censorious  in  character;  and  Frank 
Greenwood  was  in  consequence  most  unpopular  in 
Newark  and  vicinity,  while  Ned  Carrol  was  a  general 
favorite.  Early  in  the  war  Mr.  Baldwin  enlisted  in 
the  llth  regiment  of  New  Jersey  Volunteers,  and  after 
arriving  at  the  seat  of  war  wrote  several  letters  for 
publication,  in  one  of  which,  sent  to  the  Newark 
"Courier,"  he  described  the  death  of  the  mythical 
Greenwood  in  these  words : 

Army  of  the  Lower  Potomac, 

General  Hooker's  Division. 
Mr.  Editor: 

I  only  fulfill  the  (lying  request  of  a  beloved  comrade  in  ap- 
prising yon  of  his  sad  fate.  Two  months  ago  Frank  Greenwood 
joined  our  company  (C,  oth  regiment),  and  soon  became  a  gen- 
eral favorite,  owing  to  his  great  sociability  and  undaunted  cour- 
age. He  received  liis  death-wound  from  a  shell,  which  was 
thrown  from  the  Cockpit  Point  rebel  battery,  and  burst  within 
twenty  feet  of  him,  while  holding  the  signal  halyards  at  a 
review  on  the  3d  Inst.     We  mourn  him  as  a  brother. 

Ned  Carrol. 

On  the  15th  of  May,  18G4,  Lieutenant  Baldwin,  who 
had  been  in  the  battles  of  Bull  Run,  Gettysburg, 
Fredericksburg,  Chancellorsville,  Antietain,  and  the 
Wilderness,  and  a  score  or  more  of  skirmishes,  who 
had  had  many  narrow  escapes  and  many  wounds  in 
the  active  service,  sat  in  camp  knowing  of  no  danger 
near,  when  a  piece  of  iron  from  a  shell  "  thrown  fi-om 
a  rebel  battery,"  which  "  burst  within  twenty  feet  of 
him,"  struck  him  in  the  T)ack  of  the  head,  killing  him 
instantly. 

Let  those  who  propose  to  prove  supernatural  por- 
tents by  mathematics  determine  what  the  "  proba- 


166    PRESENTIMENTS,  VISIONS,  AND  APPARITIONS 

bility"  was  that  in  a  mere  spirit  of  jest  be  should 
describe  iu  detail  the  manner  of  his  owu  death  months 
afterward.  ^ 

Soon  after  the  civil  war  I  concluded  to  go  South  by- 
steamer,  and  took  passage  from  St.  Louis  on  the  steam- 
ship Luminary  for  New  Orleans.  Navigation  on  the 
Mississippi  River  at  that  time  was  uncertain.  Many 
old  vessels  were  employed,  the  condition  of  the  river 
was  dangerous,  and  during  the  preceding  twelve  or 
fifteen  months  nine  steamers  had  been  blown  up,  or 
otherwise  destroyed,  resulting  in  great  loss  of  life. 
Nearly  all  the  accidents  had  been  caused  by  the  ex- 
plosion of  what  are  known  as  tubular  boilers,  and 
strong  prejudice  arose  against  vessels  having  boilers 
of  that  kind.  The  Luminary  \\di.^  of  the  old-fashioned 
sort,  and  a  number  of  passengers  had  taken  it  solely 
on  that  account. 

I  was  accompanied  to  the  vessel  by  my  brother,  who 
up  to  that  time  had  traveled  with  me,  and  was  about 
to  return  by  rail  to  the  coast.  As  he  was  upon  the 
point  of  bidding  me  farewell,  I  was  seized  without  a 
moment's  thought  or  preparation  with  an  appalling 
impression  that  the  vessel  would  be  lost,  and  that  I 
was  looking  upon  my  brother  for  the  last  time.  For 
some  time  I  seemed  to  behold  with  almost  the  vivid- 
ness of  an  actual  perception  tlie  explosion,  to  liear  the 
shrieks  of  the  passengers,  and  to  feel  myself  swallowed 
up  in  the  general  destruction.  Composing  myself  as 
much  as  possible,  I  said  to  my  brother:  ''If  ever  a  man 

1  Dreams  without  any  propei"  authentication  of  detail,  are 
puhlislied  and  republislied.  "  The  night  that  President  Lincoln 
was  murdered,  a  neighbor  of  mine,"  writes  a  physician,  "de- 
clared that  the  President  was  killed,  and  l>y  an  assassin.  It 
was  several  hours  before  the  news  reached  tlie  town." 

The  wife  of  a  New  York  clergyinan  made  a  similar  statement 
just  before  the  news  arrived  of  the  assassination  of  President 


PRESENTIMENTS,  VISIONS,  AND  APPARITIONS    107 

had  a  presentiment  of  death,  I  have  it  now ;  but  you 
know  I  have  for  years  held  that  presentiments  spring 
from  physical  weakness,  superstition,  or  cowardice. 
Would  you  yield  to  these  terrible  feelings?"  He 
replied,  '*  No  I  If  you  do,  you  will  always  be  a  slave  to 
them."  After  some  further  conversation  he  went 
ashore,  and  the  boat  started. 

For  several  hours  the  dread  of  disaster  overhung 
me,  but  gradually  wore  off,  and  late  at  night  I  fell 
asleep.  The  distance  from  St.  Louis  to  New  Orleans 
is  about  twelve  hundred  miles.  The  time  taken  by 
the  Luminary  was  seven  days.  It  was  in  all  respects, 
after  the  first  day,  a  delightful  voyage.  After  re- 
maining in  New  Orleans  a  few  days,  I  reembarked  on 
the  same  vessel,  continuing  up  the  river  eight  hun- 
dred miles,  making  in  all  more  than  two  thousand 
miles  without  accident. 

Since  that  experience,  in  many  voyages  I  have  made 
it  an  object  to  inquire  of  travelers  and  others  concern- 
ing presentiments,  and  have  found  that  they  are  very 
common,  occasionally  fulfilled,  generally  not  so ;  and 
that  it  is  the  tendency  with  practically  all  persons  who 
have  had  one  presentiment  come  true  to  force  them- 
selves into  all  conversations,  and  to  become  tyrants 
over  those  dependent  upon  them  or  traveling  with 
them.  It  is  to  be  frankly  admitted  that  no  matter 
how  vivid  a  supposed  presentiment  might  be,  its  non- 
fulfilment  would  not  demonstrate  that  there  are  no 
presentiments  which  must  have  originated  external  to 

Garfield,  and  said  that  she  saw  him  in  a  railway  station,  sur- 
rounded by  ladies  and  others. 

But  we  hear  nothing  of  the  seventeen  persons  who  communi- 
cated to  Andrew  Johnson,  in  the  course  of  the  three  years  that 
he  was  President,  dreams  deseribinj^  his  death  by  assassina- 
tion ;  nor  of  similar  communications  made  to  the  late  Pressi- 
deut  Arthur. 


168     PRESENTIMENTS,  VISIONS,  AND  APPARITIONS 

the  mind  of  the  subject;  but  having  been  led  by  my 
experience  to  induce  many  persons  to  defy  such  feel- 
ings without  a  single  instance  of  reported  evil  results, 
it  confirms  strongly  the  hypothesis  of  their  subjective 
origin. 

That  presentiments  are  governed  by  no  moral  prin- 
ciple in  the  characters  of  the  subjects  to  which  they 
are  applied,  or  of  those  who  receive  them,  the  occa- 
sions upon  which  they  are  given,  and  their  eifects,  is 
apparent.  The  most  immoral  have  claimed  to  have 
them,  hav^e  communicated  them  to  others,  and  they 
have  sometimes  been  fulfilled  by  events  from  which 
those  having  them  have  derived  great  advantages.  A 
few  of  the  best  of  men  have  had  presentiments  that 
seemed  to  correspond  with  subsequent  events,  but 
the  great  majority  of  good  people  have  not ;  and  the 
calamities  which  have  befallen  most  have  come  with- 
out any  warning,  except  such  as  could  be  inferred 
from  existing  situations.  Experience,  foresight,  and 
guidance  by  ordinary  sagacity  have  been  all  that 
mankind  have  had  to  rely  upon ;  and  to  be  governed 
only  by  these,  combating  or  disregarding  presenti- 
ments, impressions,  and  powerful  impulses  for  which 
no  foundation  can  be  found  in  the  nature  of  things, 
is  the  only  safe  and  stable  rule. 


VISIONS 

Visions  are  appearances  to  the  mind's  eye  Avitliout 
a  corresponding  reality.  Of  the  hallucinations  of  the 
insane  it  is  necessary  to  say  but  little,  as  tliere  is  no 
doubt  as  to  their  nature  and  source,  (jcnerally  the 
insan(!  think  them  to  be  true  pen'('j)ti()ns,  and  en- 
deavor to  conform  their  conduct  to  them.  Yet  in 
some  instances,  and  vci-v  often  in  the  l)eginning  of 


PRESENTIMENTS,  VISIONS,  AND  APPAKITIONS     1G9 

insanity,  they  admit  them  to  be  morbid  and  contend 
against  them. 

A  question  of  deeper  interest,  and  of  closer  rela- 
tion to  the  subjects  treated  in  this  volume,  is  whether 
subjective  visions  are  possible  to  the  sane;  and,  if  so, 
wliether  they  are  at  all  common,  and  liable  to  occur 
as  isolated  circumstances.  On  a  full  survey  of  tlic 
subject,  both  these  questions  must  be  answered  in  the 
affirmative.  To  say  nothing  of  the  visions  produced 
by  alcohol,  opium,  hashish,  fever,  blows  upon  the 
head,  prolonged  abstinence,  deep  anxiety,  or  those 
which  precede  attacks  of  epilepsy  or  of  apoplexy,  it  is 
certain  that  hallucinations  often  arise  without  assign- 
able cause  or  subsequent  effect;  and  the  subjects  of 
them  demonstrate  their  sanity  by  recognizing  the  un- 
rcjil  character  of  their  perceptions. 

(Jriesinger,  one  of  the  most  eminent  and  discrimi- 
nating writers  on  mental  diseases,  says:  "Nothing 
would  be  more  erroneous  than  to  consider  a  man  to 
be  mentally  diseased  because  he  had  hallucinations. 
The  most  extended  experience  shows  ratlier  that  such 
phenomena  occur  in  the  lives  of  very  distinguished 
and  highly  intellectual  men,  of  the  most  different  dis- 
positions and  various  casts  of  mind,  but  especially  in 
those  of  warm  and  powerful  imagination."  In  illus- 
tration he  speaks  of  Tasso,  who,  in  the  presence  of 
Manco,  carried  on  a  long  conversation  with  his  pro- 
tecting spirit ;  and  of  Goethe's  well-known  blue-gray 
vision,  and  his  ideal  flowers  with  their  curious  buds. 
He  speaks  briefly  also  of  the  hallucinations  of  Sir 
Walter  Scott,  Jean  Paul,  Benvenuto  Cellini,  Spinoza, 
Pascal;  of  Van  Helmont,  who  saw  his  own  soul  in  the 
form  of  a  light  with  a  human  countenance ;  of  Andral, 
th<^  great  physician,  who  cxix-ricnccd  an  hallucina- 
tion of  sight;  and  of  Lcuret,  an  investigator,  thinkci-, 
and  writer  whose  testimony  may  be  hnpUcitly  trusted, 
15 


170    PRESENTIMENTS,  VISIONS,  AND  APPARITIONS 

who,  in  his  '^Fragments  of  Psychology/'  gives  an  ac- 
count of  a  phantasm  of  hearing  which  he  experienced. 

A.  Brierre  de  Boismont  divided  hallucinations  that 
are  compatible  "with  sanity  into  two  kinds  —  those 
which  are  corrected  by  the  understanding,  and  those 
which,  on  account  of  superstition,  sluggishness  of 
thought,  love  of  the  marvelous,  inability  to  interpret 
them  correctly,  or  because  the  emotions  which  they 
excite  make  calm  consideration  impossible,  are  not 
corrected.  The  cases  which  he  adduces  are  numerous 
and  striking.  One  is  that  of  Talma,  who,  when  he 
trod  the  stage,  could  by  the  force  of  his  will  make  all 
the  brilliant  dresses  of  his  numerous  audience  disap- 
pear and  substitute  skeletons  for  the  living  charac- 
ters. When  he  had  thus  filled  the  theater  with  these 
singular  spectators,  his  emotions  were  such  as  to  give 
to  his  playing  a  force  which  produced  the  most  strik- 
ing effects.  The  case  of  an  intelligent  lady  who  would 
see  a  robber  enter  her  chamber  and  conceal  himself 
under  her  bed  is  in  point.  Though  the  spectacle  pro- 
duced violent  palpitation  of  the  heart  and  universal 
trembling,  she  was  aware  of  its  falsity,  and  after  some 
moments  her  judgment  and  reason  would  triumph  so 
that  she  could  approach  the  bed  and  examine  it  with- 
out fear. 

Another  case  was  communicated  by  a  physician  of 
acknowledged  reputation  to  Sir  Walter  Scott.  The 
first  hallucination  was  that  of  the  presence  of  a  great 
cat.  After  a  few  months  the  cat  disappeared,  and  a 
phantom  of  a  higher  grade  took  its  place  —  that  of  a 
gentleman  usher  dressed  as  though  he  was  in  the  ser- 
vice of  a  lord  lieutenant,  or  of  some  great  function- 
ary of  the  Church.  But  after  some  months  he  disap- 
peared, and  a  phantom  horril)le  and  distressing — a 
skeleton — api)eared.  Tlie  fact  of  these  visions  was 
concealed  ])y  tlic  subject  of  them,  who  was  an  impor- 


PRESENTIMENTS,  VISIONS,  ^VND  APPARITIONS     171 

tant  officer  in  a  departiiK'ut  of  justico,  for  several 
years.  Thou«rli  he  knew  that  they  were  of  snbjective 
origin,  they  wore  him  out,  and  lie  died  a  victim  to  the 
agony  in  which  his  life  was  passed. 

Dr.  Abercrombie  gives  a  case  of  a  man  who  had 
been  all  his  life  beset  by  hallucinations:  when  he  met 
a  friend  in  the  street,  he  was  uncertain  whether  he 
was  a  real  person  or  a  phantom,  but  by  paying  close 
attention  he  could  distinguish  between  them.  Dr. 
Abercrombie  declares  that  he  was  at  the  time  of  writ- 
ing in  good  health,  of  a  clear  intellect,  and  occupied 
in  business. 

Many  forcible  instances,  the  most  valuable  of  which 
are  those  personally  attested  by  Boismont,  or  by  the 
authorities  whom  he  quotes,  are  given  where  the 
mind  was  sane,  though  the  hallucinations  were  not 
corrected  by  it.  It  must  not  be  supposed  that  these 
hallucinations  of  the  sane  are  confined  to  persons  of 
distinction,  sedentary  habits,  or  poetic  temperaments. 
Many  have  had  once  or  twice  in  their  lives  spectral 
illusions,  or  instances  of  hallucination  ;  and  among 
plain  men,  mechanics,  laborers,  and  the  peasantry  of 
all  nations,  they  are  very  common.  Griesinger,  after 
giving  a  list  of  distinguished  men  who,  though  sane, 
had  hallucinations,  says:  ''Judging  from  what  we 
have  heard  and  observed  on  this  subject,  hallucina- 
tions doubtless  occur  also  in  men  of  very  average 
minds,  not  as  rare  l)ut  as  frequent] >/  overlooJced  phe- 
nomena." 

I  suggested,  more  than  twenty  years  ago,  the  im- 
portance of  a  census  upon  a  large  scale  of  hallucina- 
tions of  the  sane.  Within  the  last  four  or  five  years 
a  somewhat  systematic  attempt  has  been  made  on 
])otli  sides  of  the  Atlantic.  The  results  so  far  as  tab- 
ulated show  meager  returns,  though  recently  the 
Society  of  Psychical  Research  has  gi\(ni  increased  at- 


172    PRESENTIMENTS,  VISIONS,  AND  APPARITIONS 

tention  to  the  matter.  Some  of  the  most  fruitful  fields 
for  such  a  census  appear  to  have  been  neglected. 

Down  to  within  a  few  years  a  large  proportion,  if 
not  a  majority,  of  the  converts  in  revivals  in  evan- 
gelical denominations,  in  the  course  of  their  religious 
exercises,  experienced  transient  hallucinations,  some 
of  which  were  grotesque,  some  coherent,  and  others 
sublime.  Thus,  a  business  man  who  had  fasted, 
prayed,  and  lost  sleep  for  several  days,  was  in  his 
barn  attending  to  his  horses,  when  he  saw  before 
hiin  in  broad  daylight  a  wheel  revolving  rapidly. 
It  was  about  the  size  of  a  cart-wheel,  and  emitted 
radiant  sparks  and  streams  of  light  of  various  colors. 
He  said  to  himself,  "Am  I  dreaming,  or  have  I  lost 
my  senses '?"  Recognizing  the  different  objects  around 
him,  he  concluded  that  he  was  in  his  right  mind,  and 
fixed  his  eyes  upon  the  wheel,  which  still  whirled  with 
inconceivable  speed.  Suddenly  he  discerned  standing 
upright  and  immovable  in  the  midst  of  it,  unaffected 
by  the  motion  of  the  rim,  the  form  of  the  Saviour, 
who  pronounced  his  sins  forgiven.  The  hallucination 
continued  some  minutes.  He  believed  it  a  divine 
evidence  of  conversion;  its  origin  was  undoubtedly 
subjective. 

Another  perscm,  now  a  minister  in  New  England, 
was  so  wrought  upon  at  the  moment  he  felt  the  sense 
of  guilt  and  perplexity  removed  that  he  mistook  the 
long  stove-pipe  in  the  country  church  for  Jacob's  lad- 
der, and  essayed  to  climb  it.  Not  until  restrained  for 
some  minutes  by  bystanders  did  he  recognize  the 
situation. 

Such  hallucinations  occur  still;  among  tlie  negroes 
they  are  almost  the  rule.  Yet  these  persons  are 
not  insane,  and  resume  their  ordinary  vocations  as 
})efore. 

Spectral  illusions  are  very  common  in  children,  and 


PRESENTIMENTS,  VISIONS,  AND  APPARITIONS    173 

are  most  frequently,  though  not  always,  perceived  in 
the  night  between  waking  and  sleeping. 

The  persistence  of  dreams  after  one  is  fully  awake 
is  also  a  suggestive  occasional  experience.  After  the 
appearance  of  an  article  on  **  Dreams,  Nightmare,  and 
Somnambulism," in  ''The  Century,''  the  editor  of  that 
magazine  received  a  letter  written  by  a  gentleman  of 
the  city  of  New  York  describing  a  dream  which  he 
had  had  a  few  weeks  before,  in  which  he  dreamed 
that  he  was  lying  on  his  back  in  his  own  room  and 
saw  a  frightful  black  hobgoblin,  well  defined  in  shape, 
which  stood  by  the  side  of  his  bed  and  acted  as  if 
about  to  attack  him.  In  the  midst  of  the  horror 
produced  by  the  specter,  he  awoke,  found  himself  lying 
on  his  back  just  as  he  had  dreamed,  looked  around  the 
room,  and  recognized  the  furniture  and  other  things 
in  the  room,  but  continued  to  see  the  hobgoblin  as 
plainly  as  he  saw  anything  else,  heard  him  growl, 
and  distinctly  saw  him  going  on  with  his  hostile  de- 
monstrations. Reasoning  upon  what  he  should  do, 
he  struggled  to  move,  was  unable  to  stir  hand  or 
foot  for  some  time,  but  finally  did  move,  and  that 
instant  the  uncanny  specter  vanished.  He  says :  *'  I 
had  my  eyes  on  the  hobgoblin  at  the  moment  when  I 
made  the  movement,  and  at  once  tried  to  see  whether 
there  was  any  object  in  the  room  which  I  could  have 
mistaken  for  it,  but  could  find  none." 

Books  of  marvels  contain  narratives  which  some- 
times afford  the  evidence  of  their  explanation,  but 
frequently  omit  details  which  a  person  not  disposed 
to  the  marvelous  would  be  sure  to  examine  if  he 
had  the  opportunity.  In  Stilling's  "  Pneumatology," 
translated  from  the  Gernuiu  and  edited  by  Dr.  George 
Hush,  there  are  many  of  these.  Stilling  endeavors 
to  show  that  j)eople  who  see  themselves  arc  gener- 
ally likely  to  die  soon  afterward.     lie  says:  "When 


174    PRESENTIMENTS,  VISIONS,  AND  APPAEITIONS 

a  person  sees  himself  out  of  himself,  while  others 
who  are  present  observe  nothing,  the  appai-ition  may 
be  real,  or  it  may  be  merely  imaginary;  but  when  it 
is  also  perceived  by  others  it  is  no  fantasy,  but  some- 
thing real."  He  then  gravely  adds,  "  I  myself  know 
of  persons  having  seen  themselves  and  dying  shortly 
afterward," 

He  tells  of  one  of  the  Government  secretaries  who 
went,  as  he  was  wont  to  do,  to  the  archives  to  look 
for  a  paper  which  was  very  important.  On  arriving 
there,  he  saw  himself  sitting  on  a  chair.  Much  terri- 
fied, he  went  home  and  sent  a  woman  servant  to  feteli 
the  documents.  It  is  asserted  that  the  woman  found 
him  there  also.  Dr.  Stilling  does  not  say  that  this 
man  died  "shortly  afterward";  but  that  he  did  die 
some  time  after  is  probable,  as  the  book  is  nearly  a 
hundred  years  old. 

Another  case  is  that  of  a  professor  who  was  having 
a  theological  dispute  with  a  number  of  his  friends. 
Having  occasion  to  go  to  the  library  for  a  book,  he 
saw  himself  sitting  on  a  chair  at  the  table  where  he 
usually  sat.  Going  nearer,  he  looked  over  the  shoul- 
der of  the  person  and  saw  that  this  figure  of  himself 
pointed  with  one  finger  of  the  right  hand  to  a  passage 
in  the  Bible.  He  looked  at  the  passage  indicated,  and 
saw  that  it  was,  "  Set  thine  house  in  order,  for  thou 
shalt  die."  Full  of  astonishment  and  fear,  he  went 
back  to  the  company  and  related  the  occurrence;  and 
in  spite  of  all  they  could  say  he  was  firm  in  the  opin- 
ion that  this  apparition  betokened  his  death,  and  ac- 
cordingly took  leave  of  his  friends.  "  The  day  after, 
at  six  o'clock  in  the  evening,  he  expired,  heing  ad- 
ranced  in  ycars.''^  Many  not  advanced  in  years  would 
be  killed  by  such  au  experience  as  this. 

The  origin  of  sucli  visions  is  readily  traced.  To  im- 
agine one's  self  in  a  familiar  place  with  almost  the 


PRESENTIMENTS,  VISIONS,  AND  APPARITIONS     175 

vividness  of  life  is  not  uncommon.  Whether  the 
vision  shall  be  that  of  one's  self  or  of  another,  when 
the  mind  is  in  such  a  state  as  to  develop  visions,  de- 
pends much  on  the  general  belief  at  the  time.  The 
same  principle  is  illustrated  where  it  seems  impossi- 
ble not  to  see,  in  his  accustomed  seat  at  the  table,  a 
person  who  has  died;  and  when  worn  with  anxiety 
and  long  watching,  even  strong-minded  men  have 
been  for  a  moment  almost  certain  that  they  saw  the 
familiar  figure  pass  through  the  room.  They  have 
felt  ''the  touch  of  a  vanished  hand"  and  heard  "  the 
sound  of  a  voice  that  is  still."  Add  a  belief  in  the 
marvelous  to  such  impressions,  and  the  vision  is  com- 
plete. 

Sudden  flashes  of  the  imagination  may  develop  the 
phenomenon  instantaneously.  Thus  a  sea  captain 
engaged  in  his  duty  saw  in  the  mist  the  figure  of  a 
boyhood  companion  beckoning  to  him.  He  was  cer- 
tain that  it  portended  his  death  or  that  of  the  friend 
whose  figure  he  saw,  but  nothing  came  of  it.  A 
gentleman  passing  along  the  street  suddenly  saw  his 
brother  whom  he  had  not  seen  for  twenty-five  years. 
The  figure  was  plain,  and  he  was  about  to  speak  to 
him  when  he  disappeared.  Some  time  afterward  the 
news  came  of  his  death  at  about  the  time  of  the  vision. 
Taken  alone,  it  might  seem  as  if  there  was  some  con- 
nection between  the  two  circumstances ;  but  so  many 
have  such  occasional  experiences  which  seem  remark- 
ably real,  and  yet  are  not  followed  by  any  noteworthy 
ev(!nt,  that  the  natural  explanation  is  ade<piate  to 
cover  the  cases. 

The  visions  and  hallucinations  of  hypnotism  and 
animal  magnetism  require  special  examination. 


176    PRESENTIMENTS,  VISIONS,  AND  APPARITIONS 


HABITUAL  VISIONS 

Hallucinations  may  become  frequent,  and  to  a 
certain  extent  systematic,  especially  if  a  belief  in  their 
supernatural  origin  exists;  in  which  case  a  person 
may  be  for  a  long  period  of  sound  and  discriminating 
understanding,  except  when  in  a  trance,  or  beholding 
a  vision. 

The  visions  of  St.  Theresa  have,  for  three  hundred 
years,  formed  an  important  chapter  in  religious  liter- 
ature, and  another  in  pathology.  At  twelve  she  was 
devoutly  pious,  becoming  so  after  the  death  of  her 
mother.  About  the  age  of  fifteen  she  fell  off  into  a 
very  worldly  state,  and  against  her  will  was  placed  by 
her  father  in  a  convent.  She  was  frequently  ill,  and 
finally,  after  a  year  and  a  half,  owing  to  a  dangerous 
sickness,  returned  home.  Some  time  afterward  she 
was  seized  with  a  violent  fever,  and  upon  recovery 
determined  to  devote  herself  to  a  religious  life,  and 
in  opposition  to  her  fathei*'s  wishes  entered  a  Carmel- 
ite convent  and  took  the  veil.  This  was  in  her  twen- 
tieth year.  Her  biographer,  as  translated  by  Dr. 
Madden,  says  that  she  was  attacked  "  with  frequent 
fits  of  fainting  and  swooning,  and  a  violent  pain 
at  her  heart,  which  sometimes  deprived  her  of  her 
senses."  Her  first  trance  was  in  1537,  in  her  twenty- 
third  year;  it  lasted  for  four  days,  and  during  it 
through  excess  of  pain  she  bit  her  tongue  in  many 
places — a  x'licnonienon  common  to  fits  of  various 
kinds.  At  last  she  was  reduced  almost  to  a  skeleton, 
had  a  paralytic  affection  of  her  limbs,  and  remained 
a  cripple  for  three  years.  Her  first  vision  was  three 
years  later,  when  she  had  allowcsd  herself  some  dissi- 
pation of  mind.  ''  The  ai)parition  of  our  Lord  was 
suddenly  presented  to  the  eyes  of  her  soul,  with  a 


PRESENTIMENTS,  VISIONS,  AND  APPARITIONS     177 

rigorous  aspect  tostifyinj?  to  the  displeasure  occa- 
sioned by  lier  conduct." 

There  were  great  differences  of  opinion  as  to  the 
source  of  her  visions.  Several  very  learned  priests 
and  confessors  judged  her  to  be  deluded  by  the  devil. 
One  of  them  instructed  her  to  make  the  sign  of  the 
cross,  and  to  insult  the  vision  as  that  of  a  fiend.  In 
one  of  her  visions,  according  to  her  statement,  the 
Lord  appeared  angry  at  her  instructions,  and  bade 
her  tell  them  it  was  tyranny.  She  acknowledged  that 
she  frequently  saw  devils  in  hideous  figures,  but  she 
drove  them  away  by  the  cross  or  by  holy  water.  She 
also  claimed  to  see  St.  Joseph,  the  blessed  Virgin, 
and  other  saints;  had  visions  of  purgatory,  and  saw  a 
great  number  of  souls  in  heaven  who  had  been  there. 

There  is  no  difficulty  in  explaining  her  visions  on 
natural  principles.  She  was  a  religious  woman,  in 
such  a  state  of  health  as  to  be  subject  to  trances,  and 
they  took  their  character  from  her  conventual  and 
other  religious  instruction.  Visions  of  this  kind  have 
been  common  in  the  excitable  of  all  sects.  The  early 
Methodists  had  many  of  them,  which  Mr.  Wesley 
could  not  understand ;  and  he  expelled  some  per- 
sons from  the  society  because  they  persisted  against 
his  commands  in  narrating  visions  which  even  he 
could  not  accept  as  of  divine  origin. 

Luther  suffered  from  hallucinations  of  a  religious 
character  for  a  considerable  period  of  his  life.  The 
opposition  he  encountered  and  his  sedentary  life,  taken 
in  connection  with  the  extraordinary  powers  attrib- 
uted to  Satan  in  the  middle  ages,  fully  explain  his 
visions.  Luther  thought  that  the  devil  removed  a 
bag  of  nuts,  transformed  himself  into  a  fly,  hung  on 
his  neck,  and  lay  with  him  in  bed.  Ilis  visions  would 
sometimes  come  on  after  nightniai-e.  Here  is  his  own 
a(!(H)Uiit :  "  I  awoke  in  the  middle  of  the  niirht.    Satan 


178    PRESENTIMENTS,  VISIONS,  AND  APPARITIONS 

appeared  to  me.  I  was  seized  with  horror.  I  sweated 
and  trembled.  My  heart  beat  in  a  frightful  manner. 
The  devil  conversed  with  me.  His  logic  was  accom- 
panied by  a  voice  so  alarming  that  the  blood  froze  in 
my  veins." 

Zuinglins  had  a  similar  experience  when  he  was 
half  asleep.  A  phantom,  black  or  white,  he  could  not 
say  which,  appeared  before  him,  called  him  a  coward, 
and  stirred  him  np  to  fight.  This  is  explained  by 
Forbes  Winslow  as  a  case  of  overheated  sensorium, 
''  during  the  transient  continuance  of  which  the  ret- 
ina became  so  disturbed  as  to  conjure  up  a  phantom 
which  the  patient  not  only  mistook  for  a  reality,  but, 
what  is  still  worse,  acted  upon  his  mistaken  or  dis- 
eased imagination.-' 

Swedenborg's  visions  were  of  the  same  class.  lie 
was  educated,  devoted  himself  for  many  years  to 
science,  and  up  to  his  fifty-fourth  year  had  the  repu- 
tation of  a  scientific  and  philosophic  student ;  was  a 
professor  in  the  mineralogical  school,  and  believed  to 
be  a  simple-minded  man  of  the  world.  About  1743 
he  had  a  violent  fever,  in  which  for  a  little  time  he 
was  mad,  and  rushed  from  the  house  stark  naked, 
proclaiTuing  himself  the  Messiah.  After  that  period 
a  cliange  took  place  in  liim,  and  he  lived  twenty-nine 
years  in  the  firm  conviction  that  he  held  continual  in- 
tercourse with  angels  and  also  with  deceased  human 
beings.  He  says  that  ho  conversed  with  St.  Paul 
during  the  whole  year,  particularly  in  reference  to 
the  text  Romans  iii.  28.  He  asserted  that  he  had  con- 
versed three  times  wdth  St.  John,  once  with  Moses,  a 
hundred  times  with  Luther,  and  with  angels  daily 
"  for  twenty  years." 

Swedenborg  had  an  elevated  style  of  thought,  and 
when  reasoning  upon  the  fundamental  principle  which 
underlies  his  theological  views,  he  is  acute  and  pro- 


PRESENTIMENTS,  VISIONS,  AND  APPARITIONS    179 

found.  Attention  has  frequently  been  called  to  his 
shrewdness  in  explaining  why,  when  he  claimed  to 
hear  the  voices  of  angels,  those  who  stood  by  could 
not,  by  his  declaring  that  he  was  accustomed  to  see 
and  hear  angels  when  perfectly  wide  awake,  and  add- 
ing :  "  The  speech  of  an  angel  or  of  a  spirit  sounds 
like  and  as  loud  as  that  of  a  man,  but  it  is  not  heard 
by  the  bystanders.  The  reason  is  that  the  speech  of 
au  angel,  or  of  a  spirit,  finds  entrance  first  into  a 
man's  thoughts,  and  reaches  his  organs  of  hearing 
from  within."  It  is  necessary  only  to  read  his  literal 
statements  to  perceive  the  subjective  character  of 
the  visions.  He  gives  detailed  accounts  of  the  habits, 
form,  and  dress  of  the  angels.  He  sends  his  oppo- 
nents mostly  to  Gehenna  and  sees  them  there.  The 
chief  representatives  of  the  reformed  churches  go  to 
heaven,  but  Catholics  and  some  of  his  Protestant 
opponents  he  sees  in  vision  elsewhere. 

Visions  and  hallucinations  of  men  of  this  class 
are  quoted  against  each  other  in  the  ecclesiastical 
conflicts  of  the  middle  ages,  and  more  lately,  as 
proofs  of  the  doctrines  held  by  them.  But  as  proofs 
they  are  mutually  destructive,  exist  in  all  religious, 
true  or  false,  and  are  liable  to  occur  apart  from  re- 
ligion. In  the  revivals  which  occurred  in  the  early 
part  of  this  century  in  the  United  States,  and  which 
sometimes  take  place  now,  visions  are  not  infre- 
quently connected  with  religious  experience.  When 
men  pray  without  attending  to  the  necessary  cares  of 
the  body  days  and  weeks  together,  the  result  is  faint- 
ings  and  trances  accompanied  by  visions.  Where 
they  are  believed  to  be  of  divine  origin  they  produce 
profound  impressions,  but  there  is  no  reason  to  think 
their  cause  different  from  those  already  discussed, 
nor  have  unbelievers  in  Christianity  always  escaped 
them. 


180    PRESENTIMENTS,  VISIONS,  AND  APPARITIONS 

The  autobiography  of  Lord  Herbert  of  Cherbury 
relates  a  remarkable  vision,  whieh  is  a  noteworthy 
illustration  of  inconsistency.  Lord  Herbert  did  not 
believe  in  the  divine  origin  of  Christianity,  and 
wrote  a  book  against  the  credibility  of  the  accounts 
of  miracles  in  the  Bible.  When  the  manuscript  was 
completed  he  exhibited  it  to  Grotius  and  Tilenus, 
whom  he  met  in  France.  They  praised  it  much  and 
exhorted  him  to  publish  it;  but  he  foresaw  that  it 
would  encounter  opposition,  and  hesitated  for  some 
time.  The  history  of  what  followed  is  given  in  his 
own  words : 

One  fine  day,  about  noon,  my  windows  being  open,  I  took  my 
book,  knelt  down,  and  pronounced  aloud  these  words  :  "  O  eter- 
nal God,  creator  of  the  light  which  illuminates  me,  thou  who 
enlightenest  souls  when  thou  wouldst,  tell  me  by  a  celestial 
sign  if  I  should  publish  or  suppress  my  work."  I  had  hardly 
uttered  these  words  than  a  loud  but  agreeable  sound  proceeded 
from  heaven,  whieh  impressed  me  with  such  great  joy  that  I 
felt  convinced  that  my  request  was  granted.  Howsoever  strange 
this  may  appear,  I  j^rotest,  before  God,  not  only  that  I  heard 
the  sound,  but  saw,  in  the  clearest  sky  on  which  I  ever  gazed, 
the  spot  whence  it  came.  In  consequence  of  this  sign  I  pub- 
lished my  book,  and  spread  it  tliroughout  all  Christian  lands, 
amongst  all  the  learned  capable  of  reading  and  appreciating  it. 

This  circtim  stance  is  of  great  importance.  No  doul)t 
has  ever  been  thrown  upon  the  truth  of  the  recital, 
which  shows  how  a  person  not  subject  to  hallucina- 
tions, under  circumstances  of  deep  meditation,  or 
under  the  influence  of  strong  desire  and  expectation, 
may  generate  an  hallucination,  whieh  may  be  the  only 
one  that  he  will  experience  in  tlie  course  of  a  life- 
time, and  leave  no  evil  effects  except  the  false  infer- 
ences which,  supposing  it  to  be  of  supernatural  origin, 
he  will  draw  fi-om  it.  It  deinonsti-ates  also  that  the 
absence  or  the  presence  of  any  p.irticular  form  of  faith 


PRESENTIMENTS,  VISIONS,  AND  APPMtlTIONS    181 

is  not  essential ;  and  it  is  obvious  that  Lord  Herbert 
niij^ht  ea,sily  have  passed  into  a  state  of  habitual  vis- 
ions in  all  respects  analogous  to  those  of  Swedenborg 
or  St.  Theresa. 


VISIONS  OF  THE  DYING 

The  visions  which  the  dying  are  supposed  to  see 
are  regarded  by  many  with  reverence  bordering  upon 
awe.  The  explanation  given  by  Dr.  Edward  H.  Clarke, 
a  devout  physician  of  Boston,  in  his  "  Visions:  a  Study 
of  False  Sight,"  is  strictly  physiological.  After  a  long 
and  suggestive  philosophical  exposition,  he  says: 

Should  a  bright  ray  of  light  falling  from  some  object  in  the 
chamber  on  the  retina  of  a  dying  person  excite  the  visual  appa- 
ratus and  cells,  the  hieroglyphic  of  a  departed  child,  husband, 
lover,  or  friend  be  brought  into  the  field  of  subjective  sight,  the 
beloved  one  would  be  reproduced,  and  at  once  projected  into 
space.  Liteuse  emotion,  engendered  by  such  a  sight,  would  for 
an  instant  break  through  the  stupefying  power  of  nature's  an- 
tt'sthotic,  as  the  surgeon's  knife  sometimes  momentarily  breaks 
the  spell  of  ether,  and  the  dying  individual,  springing,  with  eyes 
intent,  features  transfigured,  and  arms  outstretched,  toward 
the  vision,  w^ould  naturally  pronounce  the  long-remembered 
name,  and  then  fall  back  and  die.  Such  scenes  have  occurred. 
Few  could  witness  them  without  an  overwhelming  sense  of  awe, 
oppressed  "with  thoughts  beyond  the  reaches  of  our  souls,"  at 
beholding  for  a  moment  the  apparent  lifting  of  the  veil  and  the 
glory  within.  To  the  dying  such  a  vision  w'ould  not  be  false.  It 
would  not  be  imagination.  It  would  be  real  to  him.  The  well- 
known  features  would  be  there,  and  yet  they  would  be  a  crea- 
tion or  reproduction  of  a  dissolving  brain,  and  not  a  messenger 
from  the  opened  heavens.  The  vision  would  be  a  physiological 
effect,  not  a  supernatural  intervention. 

Dr.  Clark(;  is  not  willing  to  say  that  it  is  inip<)ssi1>l(> 
tiiut  then;  should  b(>  to  tlui  dying  u  revelation  of  the 
future  into  which  they  are  about  to  enter.     lie  savs: 
IG 


182    PRESENTIMENTS,  VISIONS,  AND  APPARITIONS 

"Probably  all  such  visions  as  these  are  automatic. 
But  yet,  who,  believing  in  God  and  personal  immor- 
tality, as  the  writer  rejoices  in  doing,  wdll  dare  to  say 
absolutely  all  f — will  dare  to  assert  there  is  no  possible 
exception?"  The  single  case  given  by  Dr.  Clarke  ap- 
pears insufficient  to  raise  a  presumption,  much  less  to 
support  a  conclusion. 

During  the  past  thirty  years  I  have  seen  many  die, 
and  many  who  thought  themselves  to  be  dying  who 
afterward  recovered,  but  I  have  no  ground  to  sup- 
pose any  of  the  visions  supernatural,  nor  have  I  seen 
any  indication  of  the  development  of  a  faculty  of  cog- 
nizing another  world. 

Some  years  ago  I  was  visiting  at  the  house  of  a 
citizen  of  Brooklyn,  now  one  of  the  editors  of  a  lead- 
ing scientific  publication.  The  father  of  his  wife  was 
very  ill,  the  disease  being  consumption  complicated 
with  extreme  age.  It  was  thought  that  he  could  not 
survive  the  day.  For  several  days  he  had  been  in  a 
state  of  stupor  bordering  upon  coma,  and  had  not 
spoken  for  some  hours.  During  the  absence  of  liis 
daughter  from  the  room  I  sat  by  his  bedside  watching 
his  painful  breathing  and  anticipating  the  end,  which 
could  not  be  long  delayed.  Suddenly  the  dying  man 
opened  his  eyes  and  said,  '^  Old  Virginia !  old  Vir- 
ginia! old  Virginia!  "  I  immediately  summoned  his 
daughter,  but  he  neither  uttered  another  syllable  nor 
showed  any  sign  of  consciousness,  and  died  in  a  few 
hours.  On  asking  members  of  the  family  if  he  had 
been  connected  in  any  way  with  Virginia,  the}'  said 
he  had  not,  but  was  a  native  of  Kentucky.  Three 
months  afterward  his  son-in-law  informed  me  that 
inquiry  suggested  by  the  circumstance  revealed  the 
fact  that  he  was  born  in  Virginia  and  lived  there  un- 
til he  was  ten  years  old.  The  sufficient  exjdanation 
was  that  the  vital  force  was  so  ncai'ly  exhausted  as 


PRESENTIMENTS,  VISIONS,  AND  APPARITIONS    183 

to  be  incapable  of  stinmlating  any  of  the  brain  cells, 
except  those  early  impressed:  a  vision  of  the  lovely 
scenes  of  his  childhood  rose  in  his  mind,  and  his 
intelligence  was  sufficient  only  to  recognize  it  as  in 
a  dream. 

The  following  facts  cannot  be  disregarded  in  elu- 
cidating the  subject : 

First.  Such  visions  occur  in  all  parts  of  the  world, 
under  every  form  of  civilization  and  religion ;  and 
when  the  dying  appear  to  see  anything,  it  is  in  har- 
mony with  the  traditions  which  they  have  received. 

Second.  Such  visions  are  often  experienced  by  those 
whose  lives  have  not  been  marked  by  religious  consis- 
tency, while  many  of  the  most  devout  are  permitted 
to  die  without  such  aid,  sometimes  experiencing  the 
severest  mental  conflicts  as  they  approach  the  crisis. 

Third.  Where  persons  appear  to  see  angels  and  dis- 
embodied spirits,  the  visions  accord  with  the  tradi- 
tional views  of  their  shape  and  expression  ;  and  where 
wicked  persons  see  fiends  and  evil  spirits,  they  har- 
monize with  the  descriptions  which  have  been  given 
in  the  sermons,  poems,  and  supernatural  narratives 
with  which  they  have  been  familiar. 

Fourth.  Many  of  the  most  remarkable  visions  have 
been  seen  by  persons  who  supposed  themselves  to  be 
dying,  but  were  not;  and  who  when  they  recovered 
had  not  the  slightest  recollection  of  wluit  had  oc- 
curred. When  a  student  I  was  called  with  others  to 
witness  the  death-bed  scene  of  the  most  popular  young 
man  in  the  institution.  He  had  professed  during  his 
illness  a  religious  conversicm,  and  was  supposed  to  be 
dying  of  typhoid  fever.  Never  have  I  heard  more 
vivid  descriptions  or  more  eloquent  words.  It  seemed 
as  though  he  must  see  another  state  of  being.  After 
the  scene  he  sank  into  a  lethargic  state,  in  which  he 
remained  for  some  days,  afterward  gradually  recover- 


184    PRESENTIMENTS,  VISIONS,  AND  APPARITIONS 

ing.  Both  his  conversion  and  visions  were  utterly- 
forgotten,  and  not  until  many  years  later  did  he 
enter  upon  a  religious  life. 

Fifth.  A  consideration  of  great  weight  is  this :  the 
Catholic  Church  confers  great  honor  upon  the  Holy 
Virgin;  Protestants  seldom  make  any  reference  to 
her.  Trained  as  the  former  are  to  supplicate  the 
sympathy  and  prayers  of  the  mother  of  our  Lord, 
I  am  informed  by  devout  priests  and  by  physicians 
that  when  they  have  visions  of  any  kind  she  gen- 
erally appears  in  the  foreground.  Among  the  vis- 
ions which  dying  Protestants  have  been  supposed  to 
see  I  have  heard  of  only  two  in  which  the  Virgin  fig- 
ured, and  these  were  seen  by  persons  trained  in  their 
youth  as  Catholics. 


APPARITIONS 

The  passage  most  frequently  quoted  on  the  subject 
of  apparitions  is  that  which  Dr.  Johnson,  in  "  Rasselas," 
puts  into  the  mouth  of  the  sage  Imlac : 

That  the  dead  are  seen  no  more  I  will  not  undertake  to  main- 
tain against  the  concurrent  testimony  of  all  ages  and  all  nations. 
There  is  no  people,  rude  or  unlearned,  among  whom  appari- 
tions of  the  dead  are  not  related  and  believed.  This  opinion, 
which  prevails  as  far  as  human  nature  is  diffused,  could  become 
universal  only  by  its  truth;  those  that  never  heard  of  one  an- 
other would  not  have  agi-eed  in  a  tale  which  nothing  but  experi- 
ence coidd  make  credible.  That  it  is  doubted  by  single  cavilers 
can  very  little  weaken  the  general  evidence;  and  some  wlio 
deny  it  with  their  tongues  confess  it  with  fears. 

All  authorities  agree  that  Dr.  Jolmson  was  super- 
stitious and  credulous,  and  tliis  passage  when  critically 
examined  does  not  seem  to  be  entitled  to  the  W(!iglit 
which  its  clearness  of  statement  and  his  great  name 


PRESENTIMENTS,  VISIONS,  AND  APPARITIONS    185 

have  gained  for  it.  The  concurrent  testimony  of  all 
ages  and  nations  can  hardly  create  a  presumption,  un- 
less it  be  assumed  that  there  have  been  no  universal 
errors.  The  assertion  that  the  opinion  could  become 
universal  only  by  its  truth  compels  the  assumption 
that  all  universal  opinions  are  true.  To  prove  that 
the  dead  are  seen  no  more,  or  cannot  appear  to  living 
beings,  is  of  course  impossible.  But  that  a  thing  can- 
not be  proven  impossible  is  not  a  reason  for  believing 
it  actual.  No  one  can  demonstrate  that  the  spirit  of 
Mahomet  is  not  now  embodied  in  the  present  Sultan 
of  Turkey,  but  no  one  believes  it. 

Belief  in  apparitions,  common  in  all  ages,  gen- 
erally dying  out  in  the  middle  of  the  last  century,  was 
revived  in  the  antagonisms  created  by  the  excesses 
of  materialistic  and  infidel  opinions,  which  denied 
the  truth  of  the  miracles  recorded  in  the  Christian 
Scriptures.  John  Wesley  says,  "It  is  true  that  the 
English  in  general,  and  indeed  most  of  the  men  in 
Europe,  have  given  up  all  accounts  of  witches  and 
apparitions  as  mere  old  wife's  fables."  He  expresses 
great  sorrow  at  this,  and  adds,  "  If  but  one  account 
of  the  intercourse  of  men  with  superior  spirits  be  ad- 
mitted, their  whole  castle  in  the  air  (deism,  atheism, 
materialism)  falls  to  the  ground." 

The  discussion  of  Mr.  Wesley's  views  of  the  relation 
of  witchcraft  to  true  Christianity  is  not  in  ])lace  here. 
His  testimony  as  to  the  opinions  of  men  of  his  time  is 
the  best  of  which  the  case  admits,  and  the  assertion 
quoted  concerning  the  value  of  proof  of  that  kind  in 
the  then  pending  conflicts  with  the  free-thinkers  justi- 
fies the  use  made  of  it  by  Dr.  Ilibbert  in  his  "Pliilos- 
ophy  of  Apparitions,"  published  not  more  than  forty 
years  after  Wesley's  death. 

Two  subjects  which  have  a  bearing  upon  any  tlieory 
of  apparitions,  telepathy  and  modern  spiritualism,  are 


186    PRESENTIMENTS,  VISIONS,  AND  APPARITIONS 

also  postponed.  Telepathy  does  not  bear  directly  upon 
apparitions  in  the  sense  of  the  direct  manifestations 
of  the  dead  only  so  far  as  it  is  connected  with 
alleged  perceptions  by  living  persons  of  others  who 
have  just  died  or  are  in  the  very  article  of  death  at 
the  time  when  it  is  alleged  that  they  are  perceived  by 
the  said  living  persons  remote  from  them.  At  the 
close  of  the  second  part  of  "A  Theory  of  Appari- 
tions," published  by  the  Society  of  Psychical  Re- 
search, the  writer  says,  '*  Of  apparitions  after  death 
we  say  nothing  here,"  and  makes  use  of  telepathy 
merely  for  the  purpose  of  analogy.  Modern  spiritual- 
ism has  so  many  phases,  and  its  alleged  and  real 
phenomena  are  many  of  them  so  dissimilar  in  matter 
and  manner  to  the  spontaneous  apparitions  referred 
to  by  Lord  Byron  in 

I  merely  mean  to  say  what  Johnson  said, 

That  in  the  course  of  some  six  thousand  years, 

All  nations  have  believed  that  from  the  dead 
A  visitant  at  intervals  appears, 

as  to  make  it  necessary  to  consider  it  separately. 

Wliat  I  design  is  to  show  that  when  the  evidence  is 
rigorously  though  fairly  examined,  the  Scotch  ver- 
dict "Not  proven"  must  be  rendered  concerning  the 
reality  of  apparitions ;  and  that  the  presumptions  of 
their  natural  origin  are  so  strong  as  to  leave  little 
doubt  in  minds  not  intoxicated  by  a  love  of  the 
marvelous,  or  who  do  not  desire  to  find  by  sensuous 
evidence  an  "  Elysian  road  which  will  conduct  man 
undoubtingly  to  such  beliefs  as  his  heart  most  craves." 

Before  the  development  of  the  scientific  spirit  be- 
lief in  apparitions  was  universal.  Scarce  an  instance 
can  be  given  from  antiquity  of  a  tale  of  sujx'rnatural 
events  carefully  investigated,  because  to  be  told  of 


PRESENTIMENTS,  VISIONS,  AND  APPAEITIONS     187 

the  appearance  of  a  ghost  excited  no  more  surprise 
than  to  be  iuformed  of  a  storiu  at  sea,  or  of  an  ex- 
traordinary flash  of  lightning.  In  Greece  and  Rome 
such  narratives  furnish  the  materials  of  poetry,  and 
for  ages  after  the  hold  of  the  marvelous  upon  ordi- 
nary writers  was  broken  the  impression  of  primeval 
superstitions  was  so  strong  that  the  questions  which 
science  now  asks — nay,  more,  the  questions  which 
practical  men  now  ask  —  were  not  propounded. 

To  believe  merely  because  antiquity  believed  is 
but  to  tighten  the  swaddling-clothes  of  the  infant 
about  the  grown  man  and  force  him  once  more  into 
the  cradle. 

The  testimony  of  a  single  witness  to  an  apparition 
can  be  of  little  value,  because  whatever  he  thinks  he 
sees  may  be  a  spectral  illusion  or  a  hallucination. 
The  state  of  mind  of  one  who  thinks  that  he  sees  an 
apparition  is  unfavorable  to  calm  observation ;  and 
after  he  has  seen  it  he  has  nothing  but  his  recollection 
of  what  he  saw,  unsupported  by  analogies  or  memo- 
randa taken  during  the  vision.  To  say  that  imme- 
diately after  he  witnessed  such  a  thing  he  made  a  note 
of  it,  is  at  best  to  say  only  that  he  wrote  down  what 
he  could  remember  at  that  time. 

Identification  of  the  dead  by  a  living  person  must 
be  a  matter  of  great  difficulty,  particularly  as  in  many 
of  the  ghost  stories  the  deceased  had  not  been  seen 
for  twenty  or  twenty-five  years,  or  perhaps  was  never 
seen  by  the  individual  to  whom  he  is  alleged  to  appear. 
In  view  of  the  mental  excitement,  not  to  say  trepida- 
tion, induced  by  the  belief  that  he  sees  a  spontaneous 
and  unexpected  apparition,  one  who  fancies  that  he 
sees  the  dead  can  hardly  be  competent  to  determine 
whether  it  be  a  subjective  vision  or  an  ac^tnal  object. 

It  has  frequently  l)een  laid  down  as  indisputal)l(! 
that  if  two  see  a  vision  at  the  same  time  its  objective 


188     PRESENTIMENTS,  VISIONS,  AND  APPARITIONS 

and  authentic  character  is  conclusively  demonstrated. 
This  by  no  means  follows ;  on  the  contrary,  a  hun- 
dred may  be  confident  that  they  see  an  apparition, 
and  the  proof  that  they  do  not  may  be  conclusive. 
In  the  middle  ages  thousands  believed  in  Vampyrism. 
Less  than  two  hundred  years  ago  in  Hungary,  Mora- 
via, Silesia,  and  Lorraine  it  was  prevalent.  ''Some 
dreamed  that  these  malicious  specters  took  them  by 
the  throat,  and,  having  strangled  them,  sucked  their 
blood."  Others  believed  that  they  actually  saw  them. 
At  times  when  the  imagination  is  greatly  excited,  and 
a  belief  in  ghosts  exists,  they  can  be  manufactured  by 
the  thousand,  and  thousands  can  see  them.  The  col- 
ored people  in  the  South  have  no  trouble  on  this 
point.  It  is  not  an  unusual  occurrence  for  the  ghosts  of 
men  hanged  to  appear  to  the  prisoners  in  the  jail,  and 
though  the  oflBcers  may  look  at  midnight,  or  when- 
ever the  ghost  is  said  to  appear,  and  can  perceive 
nothing,  scores  of  the  prisoners  are  certain  tliat  they 
see  the  dreadful  vision.  An  instance  of  this  kind 
within  a  few  years  led  to  the  permanent  reformation 
of  several  persons. 

Sailors,  naturally  superstitious,  have  great  powers 
as  ghost-seers.  A  vessel  that  sailed  from  Newcas- 
tle-upon-Tyne had  on  board  a  cook  one  of  whose  legs 
was  shorter  than  the  other,  so  that  he  walked  in  that 
way  which  in  the  vulgar  idiom  is  called  "  with  an  up 
and  a  down."  He  died  on  the  trip  and  was  buried  at 
sea.  A  few  nights  afterward  the  captain  was  told  by 
the  mate  that  the  cook  was  walking  before  the  sliip, 
and  that  all  hands  were  on  deck  to  see  him.  Angry 
at  being  awakened,  the  captain  told  the  mate  to  let 
the  cook  alone  and  race  with  him  to  see  whether  the 
ship  or  he  would  get  first  to  Newcastle.  But  being 
further  importuned  the  captain  finally  turned  out.  I 
will  now  ({uote  the  words  of  Mr.  Ellis  (who  published 


PRESENTIMENTS,  VISIONS,  AND  APPARITIONS     189 

them  in  "  Brand's  Popnltir  Antiquities  ")  as  they  were 
received  from  the  captain : 

He  honestly  confessed  that  he  had  like  to  have  caught  the 
contagion,  and  on  seeing  something  move  in  a  way  so  similar 
to  that  which  an  old  friend  used,  and  withal  having  a  cap  on  so 
like  that  which  he  was  wont  to  wear,  verily  thought  there  was 
more  in  the  report  than  ho  was  at  first  willing  to  believe.  A 
general  panic  diffused  itself.  Ho  ordered  the  ship  to  be  steered 
toward  the  object,  but  not  a  man  would  move  the  helm.  Com- 
pelled to  do  this  himself,  he  found  on  a  nearer  approach  that  the 
ridiculous  cause  of  all  their  terror  was  part  of  a  maintop,  the 
remains  of  some  wreck,  floating  before  them. 

If  he  had  really  cau«:ht  the  contagion  the  evidence 
would  have  been  complete ;  the  Society  for  P.sychical 
Research  might  make  much  of  it,  and  it  would  be  de- 
clared to  be  convincing  proof  of  a  future  state. 

Dr.  Tuke  gives  an  instance  of  a  general  misappre- 
hension of  vision.  At  the  conflagration  in  the  Crys- 
tal Palace,  in  the  winter  of  18G6-67,  when  the  aninuils 
were  destroyed  by  fire,  it  was  supposed  that  the  chim- 
patizee  had  succeeded  in  escaping  from  his  cage.  Men 
saw  the  unhappy  animal  holding  to  the  roof  and 
writhing  in  agony  while  trying  to  grasp  one  of  the 
iron  ribs.  They  watched  its  struggles  with  sick- 
ening dread  —  but  there  was  no  animal  there.  "It 
was  a  tattered  piece  of  blind,  so  torn  as  to  resemT)le, 
to  the  eye  of  fancy,  the  body,  arms,  and  legs  of  an 
ape ! " 

When  Brigham  Young  asserted  that  he  saw  the  angel 
of  the  Lord  from  Ensign  Point,  making  signs  that  this 
was  the  place  where  the  great  city  and  tabernacle  of 
the  Latter  Day  Saints  should  be  established,  Mormons 
surrounding  him  thought  they  beheld  the  angel,  and 
nothing  could  shake  their  conviction  of  its  reality. 

Mistakes  of  identity  account  for  many  ap])aritions. 
Resemblances  between  persons  in  no  way  related  are 


190     PRESENTIMENTS,  VISIONS,  AND  APPARITIONS 

much  more  numerous  aud  strikiug  than  is  generally 
supposed.  Lord  Byron,  who  was  superstitious,  in 
speaking  of  ghosts  wrote : 

And  what  is  strangest  upon  this  strange  head 
Is  that,  whatever  bar  the  reason  rears 
'Gainst  such  belief,  there  's  something  stronger  still 
In  its  behalf,  let  those  deny  who  will. 

Yet  he  occasionally  laughed  at  apparitions.  In 
1811,  writing  to  Mr.  Murray,  he  says,  "My  old  school 
and  form  fellow  Peel,  the  Irish  Secretary,  told  me  he 
saw  me  in  St.  James  street ;  I  was  then  in  Turkey. 
A  day  or  two  afterward  looking  across  the  way,  he 
said  to  his  brother,  '  There  is  the  man  I  took  for  By- 
ron.' His  brother  answered,  '  Why,  it  is  Byron,  and 
no  one  else.'  I  was  at  this  time  seen  to  write  my  name 
in  the  Palace  book.  I  was  then  ill  of  a  malaria  fever. 
If  I  had  died,  here  would  have  been  a  ghost  story." 
According  to  the  telepathic  theory,  Byron's  self  might 
have  left  his  body  in  Turkey,  where  he  was  sick,  jyid 
made  an  excursion  to  Loudon.  It  would  be  interest- 
ing to  have  an  account  of  the  state  of  his  body  on 
that  day ;  whether  much  agitated,  or  enjoying  a  calm 
and  refreshing  sleep  in  the  absence  of  the  perturbed 
spirit  of  the  poet,  who  must  have  been  an  uneasy  ten- 
ant at  the  best  of  times.  But  these  details  were  omit- 
ted, and  the  natural  explanation  would  be  "  mistaken 
identity." 

A  whole  city  was  excited  by  the  appearance  of  a 
person  known  to  be  dead  —  a  silent  man,  who  entered 
a  liotel,  registered  his  name,  and  looked  wistfully 
about,  speaking  to  no  one,  and  not  willing  to  explain 
his  business.  Terror  seized  upon  the  people.  Every 
one  who  looked  at  him  affirmed  that  he  was  the  dead 
man.  He  was  compelled  after  a  few  days  to  account 
for  himself,  and  had  no  difficulty  in  proving,  not  only 


PRESENTIMENTS,  VISIONS,  AND  APPARITIONS     191 

that  he  was  a  living  man,  but  that  he  had  never  seen 
the  man  whom  he  so  strongly  resembled.  A  remark- 
able faet  about  this  ease  was,  that  both  the  dead  man 
and  his  double  had  three  moles  on  the  left  cheek. 

Jugglery  and  intentional  deception,  subsequently 
confessed,  have  explained  many  cases  of  apparition 
which  within  a  short  period  previous  to  the  exposure 
had  been  generally  believed  real  in  the  communities 
where  they  were  reported.  One  of  the  most  common 
sources  of  su])posed  supei-natural  interference  with 
ordinary  laws  is  unexplained  noises,  especially  those 
tliat  appear  to  respond  to  questions.  Many  of  these 
have  been  afterward  explained  by  chemical  condi- 
tions; others  by  the  wind  shrieking  through  bottles, 
down  chimneys,  and  occasionally  by  pendulum  mo- 
tions caused  by  gravitation,  shakings,  or  motions  by 
the  movements  of  distant  bodies;  one  famous  case  by 
changes  that  had  taken  place,  the  result  of  mining 
operations  beneath  the  ground  upon  which  the  house 
stood.  The  ringing  of  bells  when  it  was  obvious  no 
one  was  pulling  the  wires  —  occasionally  the  result  of 
electricity,  at  other  times  of  the  actions  of  cats — has 
terrified  some  ordinarily  intelligent  persons  almost 
out  of  their  senses.  Disturbances  produced  by  dogs, 
cats,  and  even  rats,  magnified  by  large  rooms,  im- 
mense fire-places,  the  transformation  of  innocent 
o])jects  on  nights  when  the  moon  is  at  the  full,  and 
deep  shadows  produced  by  movements  of  the  liml)s 
of  trees  reflec^ted  in  mirrors,  have  all  contributed  to 
the  production  of  awful  impressions. 

In  a  certain  rectory  within  forty  miles  of  the  city 
of  New  York  stood  an  old-fasliioned  candlestick  sur- 
rounded })y  prisms  of  glass  wliich  were  pendent  fi-oni 
the  top.  On  s(;veral  occasions  the  fajnily  were  awak- 
ened l)y  the  ringing  of  tliese  in  the  night,  tho.  eflVct 
of  which  was  to  terrifv  the  servants  and  all  the  in- 


192     PRESENTIMENTS,  VISIONS,  AND  APPAEITIONS 

mates  of  the  house,  except  the  wife  of  the  rector, 
who  determined  to  solve  the  mystery.  For  a  long 
time  the  sounds  were  not  produced  except  in  total 
darkness,  but  by  gradually  introducing  the  practice 
of  burning  a  light  at  night  the  ringing  was  finally 
heard  one  night  when  there  was  a  light  in  the  room. 
The  lady  of  the  house  then  went  quietly  down  to  the 
dining-room  and  saw  a  large  rat  with  every  expres- 
sion of  pleasure  leaping  forward  and  with  his  fore  legs 
striking  the  prisms  so  as  to  make  them  ring,  evidently 
taking  the  keenest  delight  in  the  sound  thus  produced. 
My  informants  were  the  rector  and  his  wife. 

In  an  article  on  Apparitions  written  by  Andrew 
Lang,  in  the  second  volume  of  the  "  Encyclopaedia 
Britannica,"  ninth  edition,  he  says : 

The  writer  once  met,  as  he  believed,  a  well-known  and  learnetl 
member  of  an  English  university  who  was  really  dying  at  a  place 
more  tlian  a  hundred  miles  distant  from  tliat  in  which  lie  was 
seen.  Supposing,  for  the  sake  of  argument,  that  the  writer  did 
not  mistake  some  other  individual  for  the  extremely  noticeable 
person  whom  he  seemed  to  see,  tlie  coincidence  between  tlie 
subjective  impression  and  the  death  of  the  learned  professor  is, 
to  say  the  least,  curious. 

To  determine  whether  or  not  it  was  a  case  of  mis- 
taken identity  is  very  important,  but  no  opportunity 
is  given  in  the  passage  quoted.  If  it  was  a  subjective 
impression,  the  coincidence  would  be  curious  and  no- 
thing else ;  though  not  more  so,  as  I  have  shown  abun- 
dantly, than  many  coincidences  in  trifles,  and  otlier 
circumstances  absolutely  disconnected,  and  many 
subjective  impressions  without  coincidences.  Mr. 
Lang,  in  the  article  referred  to,  has  written  like  one 
who  has  ci-ammed  with  the  literatui'e  of  tlie  subject 
without  being  at  the  pains  to  reason  closely  u})on  tlie 
alleged  facts,     lie  refers  to  the  superstitious  horror 


PRESENTIMENTS,  VISIONS,  AND  APPARITIONS    193 

shown  by  a  dog  at  the  moment  of  a  supposed  appari- 
tion to  his  master.  That  the  dog  exhibited  horror 
when  his  owner  thought  he  saw  an  apparition  may 
be  readily  believed.  All  familiar  with  dogs  know 
that  nothing  will  terrify  them  more  than  an  appear- 
ance of  alarm  on  the  part  of  their  masters  without 
visible  cause.  Of  the  same  nature  is  the  remark  con- 
cerning the  mysterious  disturbances  at  the  house  of 
the  Wesleys:  "The  mastiff  was  more  afraid  than  any 
of  the  children."  The  volatile  imaginations  of  chil- 
dren have  never  shown  great  horror  of  mysteries; 
they  were  sustained,  too,  by  confidence  in  their 
parents.  But  the  dog  heard  mysterious  noises  which 
naturally  greatly  agitated  him. 

Mr.  Lang  closes  his  remarks  on  this  part  of  the 
subject  by  naively  saying,  "The  case  of  Balaam's  ass 
is  sufficiently  well  known."  This  is  not  pertinent. 
Balaam's  ass,  according  to  the  record,  not  only  saw  a 
supernatural  appearance,  but  engaged  in  a  process  of 
reasoning  in  which  he  called  up  his  past  life  to  vin- 
dicate himself  from  abuse,  and  further  engaged  in  a 
conversation  with  his  master  in  the  lattei-'s  vernac- 
ular. Indeed,  he  exhibited  a  cogency  of  reasoning 
which,  applied  to  most  of  the  tales  adduced  to  prove 
the  reality  of  apparitions,  would  effectually  "fey" 
the  ghosts. 

Many  persons  fancy  that  mysterious  noises  which 
will  appear  to  respond  to  questions,  to  make  raps  or 
answer  raps,  conclusively  prove  that  they  are  directed 
by  intelligence.  Sometimes  they  may,  and  the  intel- 
ligence is  quite  likely  to  be  of  human  origin;  but 
noises  of  atmospheric,  chemical,  or  electrical  origin 
may  furnish  astonishing  coincidences,  as  fissures  in 
the  rocks  are  extremely  difficult  to  be  distinguished 
from  hieroglyphics.  Some  years  ago  an  alphabet 
based  on  the  spiritualistic  alphabet  was  applied  to 
17 


194    PEESENTIMENTS,  VISIONS,  AND  APPARITIONS 

successive  gusts  of  wind  of  a  stormy  autumn  day,  and 
the  coincidences  were  astonishing.  Short  sentences 
of  a  very  significant  character  at  times  appeared  to 
respond  to  the  arbitrary  standard.  In  any  case  the 
conclusion  that  a  noise  the  cause  of  which  is  not  yet 
understood  must  be  supernatural  is  a  process  of 
reasoning  ah  ignorantia. 

That  ghosts  do  not  come  to  those  most  interested 
in  them,  and  seldom  or  never  to  any  who  long  for 
them,  has  been  a  matter  of  note  from  the  earliest 
times.  Wordsworth's  words,  often  quoted,  state  the 
conclusion  drawn  from  this  in  language  natural  and 
almost  convincing : 

'T  is  falsely  said 
That  there  was  ever  intercourse 

Betwixt  the  living  and  the  dead, 
For  surely  then  I  should  have  sight 
Of  him  I  wait  for  day  and  night 

With  love  and  longings  infinite. 

The  ceremonies  practised  by  the  Christian  Church 
in  the  middle  ages  in  the  successful  exorcising  of 
ghosts  are  not  less  striking  than  the  sort  of  evidence 
on  which  the  ghosts  were  accepted.  Two  or  three 
clergymen  are  necessary  and  the  ceremony  must  be 
performed  in  Latin,  "the  language  which  strikes  the 
most  audacious  ghost  with  terror."  According  to 
history  and  tradition  the  ghost  may  be  laid  for  any 
term  less  than  a  hundred  years,  "in  any  place  or  body, 
filled  or  empty."  But  what  a  ghost  hates  most  is  the 
Red  Sea.  It  is  related  on  the  most  indisputable  au- 
thority that  the  ghosts  have  earnestly  besought  exor- 
cists not  to  confine  them  in  that  place;  nor  is  any 
instance  given  of  their  escaping  before  the  time ! 

When  we  consider  the  injustice  frequently  inflicted 
upon  orphans  whose  estates  are  squandered  by  trus- 


PRESENTIMENTS,  VISIONS,  AND  APPARITIONS     195 

tees ;  the  coueealmeut  or  destruction  of  wills ;  the  in- 
gratitude to  destitute  benefactors;  the  diverting  of 
trust  funds  for  benevolent  purposes  to  objects  abhor- 
rent to  those  who  with  painful  toil  accumulated  them 
and  with  confidence  in  the  stability  of  human  laws 
bequeathed  them ;  the  loneliness  and  despair  that  fill 
human  hearts ;  and  the  gloomy  doubts  of  the  reality 
of  a  future  existence, — all  of  which  would  be  rendered 
impossible  if  actual  apparitions  took  place, — the  con- 
clusion gathers  almost  irresistible  force  that  neither 
in  the  manner  of  the  alleged  comings  nor  iu  the  ob- 
jects for  which  they  come  is  there  any  evidence  to 
be  found  of  their  reality. 

If  it  be  assumed  that  the  testimony  of  one  or  of 
one  hundred  to  a  supernatural  event  is  not  sufficient 
to  prove  that  it  occurred,  the  question,  ''  What  be- 
comes of  the  testimony  of  the  Apostles  and  the  five 
hundred  brethren  to  the  resurrection  of  Christ,  and 
of  Stephen  to  his  seeing  the  heavens  open,"  arises 
again.  It  admits  of  but  one  answer.  If  they  had 
nothing  to  communicate  but  the  assertion  that  they 
saw  a  human  being  alive  who  had  been  dead,  it  would 
be  necessary  to  reject  it  on  the  ground  that  it  is  far 
more  probable  that  they  were  deceived  than  that  such 
a  thing  occurred. 

But  this  is  not  the  whole  case.  They  present  to 
us  the  whole  body  of  Christian  doctrine,  declaring 
that  it  was  received  from  that  person  who  predicted 
that  he  would  rise  from  the  dead,  whom  they  believed 
they  saw,  and  with  whom  on  various  occasions  they 
conversed  after  his  resurrection.  If  Christianity  in 
its  relation  to,  and  effect  upon,  the  moral  nature  of 
the  thinker  does  not  convince  him  of  the  divine  origin 
and  consequent  truth  of  the  record,  I  know  of  no 
means  of  doing  so. 


WITCHCRAFT 


The  art  is  old  and  new,  for  verily- 
All  ages  have  been  taught  the  matter. 

Goethe. 


ADDISON  says  that  among  all  the  poets  who  deal 
with  fairies,  witches,  magicians,  demons,  and 
departed  spirits,  the  English  are  much  the  best,  ''  and 
among  the  English  Shakspere  has  incomparably  ex- 
celled all  others.  There  is  something  so  wild  and  yet 
so  solemn  in  his  speeches  of  his  ghosts,  fairies,  witches, 
and  the  like  imaginary  persons,  that  we  cannot  for- 
bear thinking  them  natural,  .  .  .  and  must  con- 
fess, if  there  are  such  beings  in  the  world,  it  looks 
highly  probable  that  they  would  talk  and  act  as  he 
has  represented  them." 

As  Addison  saw  his  fatal  day  thirty  years  before 
Goethe's  natal  star  arose,  he  could  not  compare  the 
prince  of  German  poets  with  others;  but  if  the  ruling 
sentiment  of  modern  critics  may  be  accepted,  Shak- 
spere's  ghosts  and  witches  still  maintain  their  superi- 
ority. These  are  "  the  secret,  black,  and  midnight 
hags"  that  brewed  the  charm  for  Duncan's  murder, 
and   the   familiar  but   ever  awe-inspiring  ghost  of 

Hamlet's  father: 

I  am  thy  father's  spirit. 
Doomed  for  a  certain  time  to  walk  the  night. 

But  the  fancies  of  poets  can  give  no  help  to  him 
who   deals   with   one   of    the   darkest    tragedies   of 

196 


WITCHCRAFT  197 

humanity,  the  only  stain  on  the  ermine  of  Sir 
Matthew  Hale, —  whose  fame  without  it  would  rival 
that  of  Daniel  for  wisdom,  as  it  does  for  integi-ity, — 
and  the  chief  sti|^ma  upon  the  early  history  of  New 
England.  Nor  is  witchcraft  of  the  past  only:  for  by 
many  theologians  it  is  believed  to  reappear  in  modern 
spiritualism,  and  by  a  multitude  of  Christians  to  be  a 
reality,  because,  as  they  suppose,  it  is  plainly  asserted 
in  the  sacred  Scriptures;  and  its  baleful  spell  still 
holds  four  fifths  of  the  fifteen  hundred  millions  of 
the  human  race  "  fast  in  its  slavish  chains." 


DEFINITION   OF  WITCHCRAFT 

From  the  earliest  ages  religions,  true  and  false, 
claimed  divine  aid,  and  their  production  of  effects  by 
other  than  natural  causes  was  considered  by  all  ex- 
cept avowed  unbelievers  to  be  lawful.  The  super- 
natural is  occult;  but  the  latter  word  is  used  only  to 
apply  to  the  illegitimate,  and  to  the  imaginary  sciences 
of  the  middle  ages.  As  the  terms  at  first  employed 
were  descriptive,  rather  than  definitive,  they  came 
naturally  to  be  used  promiscuously,  one  woi-d  some- 
times standing  for  everything  preternatural  exclusive 
of  religion,  and  at  others  for  a  single  form  of  such 
action.  In  an  English  book  dating  from  the  middle 
of  the  sixteenth  century  most  of  these  ancient  terms 
are  included  in  a  single  sentence:  ''Besides  the  art 
magyck,  sortilege,  physnomye,  palmestrye,  alcumye, 
necromancye,  chiromanc}^,  geomancy,  and  witchery, 
that  was  taught  there  also."  (Bale,  "English  Vota- 
ries." ) 

INIagic,  applied  by  the  Greeks  to  the  luM-editary 
caste  of  priests  in  Persia,  still  stands  in  the  East  for 
an  incongruous  collection  of  superstitious  beliefs  and 


198  WITCHCRAFT 

rites,  having  nothing  in  common  except  the  claim  of 
abnormal  origin  and  effects.  Astrology,  divination, 
demonology,  soothsaying,  sorcery,  witchcraft,  necro- 
mancy, enchantment,  and  many  other  systems  are 
sometimes  included  in  magic,  but  each  term  is  also 
employed  separately  to  stand  for  the  whole  mass  of 
confused  beliefs  which,  outside  of  the  sphere  of  recog- 
nized religion,  attempt  to  surpass  the  limitations  of 
nature.  For  this  reason  the  title  of  a  work  on  this 
subject  seldom  indicates  its  scope. 

But  witchcraft  has  been  restricted  by  usage  and 
civil  and  ecclesiastical  law  until  it  signifies  a  volun- 
tary compact  between  the  devil,  the  party  of  the  first 
part,  and  a  human  being,  male  or  female,  wizard  or 
witch,  the  party  of  the  second  part, —  that  he,  the  devil, 
will  perform  whatever  the  person  may  request.  The 
essential  element  in  witchcraft  as  an  offense  against 
religion  and  civil  law  is  the  voluntary  nature  of  the 
compact.  Possession  by  the  devil  against  the  will,  or 
without  the  consent  of  the  subject,  belongs  to  a  radi- 
cally distinct  idea.  The  sixth  chapter  of  Lord  Coke's 
''  Third  Institute"  concisely  defines  a  witch  in  these 
words :  "  A  witch  is  a  person  which  hath  conference 
with  the  devil,  to  consult  with  him  to  do  some  act." 
English  laws  in  1665  define  witchcraft  as  "  Covenant 
with  a  familiar  spirit,  to  be  punished  with  death." 


CURRENT   BELIEF 

Witchcraft  is  at  the  present  time  believed  in  by  a 
majority  of  the  citizens  of  the  United  States.  The 
larger  number  of  immigrants  from  the  continent  of 
Europe  are  more  or  less  in  fear  of  such  powers.  To 
these  must  be  added  no  inconsiderable  proportion  of 
persons  of  English  and  Scotch  descent;  for  a  strong 


WITCHCRAFT  199 

vein  of  superstition  is  discernible  in  many  Irish, 
Scotch,  and  some  English,  whose  '"folk-lore,"  diffused 
in  nursery  tales  and  neighborhood  gossip,  has  en- 
twined itself  strongly  about  the  fibers  of  spontane- 
ous, subconscious  mental  imagery.  Among  the  more 
ignorant  members  of  the  Catholic  Church  of  every 
nationality  the  belief  produces  a  mysterious  dread, 
against  which  men  and  women  cross  themselves,  and 
resort  to  various  rites  supposed  to  be  efficacious. 

Where  colonies  of  immigrants  have  remained  iso- 
lated, retaining  the  use  of  their  own  language,  the 
influence  of  witchcraft  is  more  easily  traced.  The 
interior  of  Pennsylvania  affords  better  illustrations 
of  this,  and  on  a  larger  scale,  than  any  other  State. 
It  has  been  but  two  or  three  years  since  suit  was 
brought  by  a  man  against  his  mother,  in  one  of  the 
counties  of  Pennsylvania,  to  recover  damages  for  a 
dog  which  he  charged  her  with  having  killed  by  witch- 
craft; and  he  not  only  brought  suit,  but  obtained  judg- 
ment from  a  justice  of  the  peace.  Various  witnesses 
testified  as  to  their  experiences  in  witchcraft,  and  only 
one  said  that  he  had  never  had  a  friend  or  relative 
who  was  bewitched. 

In  divers  villages  in  Pennsylvania  are  women  who 
are  supposed  to  be  witches.  Some  are  shrewd  enough 
not  to  apply  their  arts  for  strangers,  but  to  those 
whom  they  know,  as  stated  in  an  article  in  the  New 
York  "  Sun"  some  years  ago,  they  will  sell  charms  to 
ward  off  lightning  from  buildings,  dry  up  the  wells 
of  the  enemies  of  applicants,  force  cows  to  give  bloody 
milk,  cause  sickness  in  the  family,  destroy  beauty, 
separate  man  and  wife,  and  reunite  estranged  lovers. 

In  the  interior  parts  of  the  Southern  States,  whore 
a  large  proportion  of  the  white  population  cannot 
read,  and  there  is  little  admixture  of  society,  there 
are  "witch-doctors,"  who,  assuming  that  all  disease  is 


200      .  WITCHCRAFT 

caused  by  witches,  secure  thriving  practice  in  coun- 
teracting their  influence.  The  Philadelphia  "Times," 
on  the  authority  of  a  reputable  correspondent,  who 
gives  many  facts  to  sustain  his  representations,  says : 
''For  generations  the  poor  whites  have  believed  in 
witches,  and  the  belief  is  deep-seated  and  incurable." 

The  African  population  brought  this  belief  from 
the  Dark  Continent,  and  it  persists  among  them, 
though  the  progress  of  religion  and  education  is 
doing  something  to  check  it. 

I  have  recently  noted  more  than  fifty  suits  instituted 
in  the  United  States  by  persons  against  those  who 
they  claimed  had  bewitched  them;  but  under  exist- 
ing laws  the  accused  could  not  be  prosecuted  except 
where  money  had  been  obtained  under  false  preten- 
ses, or  overt  acts  of  crime  suggested  or  committed. 

During  pedestrian  tours  in  New  England,  in  various 
parts  of  the  West,  and  in  every  Southern  State,  I 
have  frequently  stayed  for  the  night  at  the  houses  of 
poor  farmers,  laborers,  fishermen,  and  trappers.  In 
such  journeys  I  have  invariably  listened  to  the  tales 
of  the  neighborhood,  stimulating  them  by  suggestion, 
and  have  found  the  belief  in  witchcraft  cropping  out 
in  the  oldest  towns  in  New  England,  sometimes  within 
the  very  shadow  of  the  buildings  where  a  learned  min- 
istry has  existed  from  the  settlement  of  the  country, 
and  public  schools  have  furnished  means  of  education 
to  all  classes.  The  horseshoes  seen  in  nearly  every 
county,  and  often  in  every  township,  upon  the  houses, 
suggested  the  old  horseshoe  beneath  which  Lord  Nel- 
son, who  had  long  kept  it  nailed  to  the  mast  of  the 
Victory,  received  his  death-wound  at  Trafalgar. 

In  Canada  the  l)elief  is  more  prevalent  than  in  any 
part  of  the  United  States,  except  the  interior  of  Penn- 
sylvania and  the  South.  In  tlie  French  sections,  ex- 
clusive of  the  educated, — a  relatively  small  number, — 


WITCHCRAFT  201 

the  belief,  if  not  universal,  is  widely  diffused.  But  it 
is  by  no  means  confined  to  Canadians  of  French  ex- 
traction. Until  within  a  few  years  the  descendants 
of  the  English  and  Scotch  in  many  parts  of  British 
America  were  more  widely  separated  from  each  other 
and  from  the  progress  of  modern  civilization  than 
the  inhabitants  of  the  United  States,  or  the  settlers 
of  Australia,  exceptintr  certain  sections  of  New  Zea- 
land and  Tasmania.  In  all  these  regions  the  educated 
generally  dismiss  it  as  a  mystery,  or  repudiate  it  as 
an  ancient  superstition.  Nevertheless  it  is  often  found 
in  the  more  secluded  communities,  handets,  and  rural 
districts,  liable  on  slight  provocation  to  manifest  itself 
in  credulous  fears,  insinuations,  and  accusations. 

In  the  West  Indies  this  belief  prevails  among  the 
negroes,  and  is  not  unknown  among  the  more  igno- 
rant whites.  Of  South  America  and  Mexico  travel- 
ers, missionaries,  and  foreign  residents  bring  similar 
accounts. 

In  Italy  those  of  the  people  who  are  not  Protes- 
tants or  free-thinkers  generally  believe  in  the  possi- 
bility of  witchcraft,  and  to  the  peasants  it  is  a  living 
reality.  Nor  are  all  who  reject  the  Catholic  Church 
or  avow  irreligion  free  from  credulity  as  regards  oc- 
cult influences.  Modern  Greece,  Bulgaria,  Servia, 
and  the  neighboring  States  abound  in  similar  super- 
stitions. The  common  people  of  Hungary  and  Bohe- 
mia fear  witchcraft,  and  it  still  dominates  a  consid- 
erable part  of  the  rural  population  and  tlie  allied 
classes  of  Germany,  and  particularly  of  Austria. 

French  peasants  are  afraid  of  evil  eyes,  warlocks, 
ghosts,  spells,  omens,  enchantments,  and  witches;  not 
in  every  part  of  the  country,  but  in  the  more  primitive 
sections.  In  France  their  persistence  is  promoted  })v 
dialects,  kinship,  and  various  influences  peculiar  to  the 
country.    It  has  been  but  a  few  vears  since  tlie  world 


202  ■  WITCHCRAFT 

was  shocked  by  the  buruiug  of  an  old  woman  as  a 
witch  in  the  district  of  Sologne,  cui)idity  and  fanat- 
icism leading  to  the  crime.  Having  softening  of 
the  brain,  she  did  and  said  strange  things,  from 
which  her  children  concluded  that  she  was  a  witch 
and  determined  to  burn  her  to  death.  When  the 
time  decided  upon  arrived,  they  sent  for  a  priest,  who 
confessed  her.  Soon  after  his  departure  her  daugh- 
ter screamed,  ^'It  is  greatly  borne  upon  me  that  now 
is  the  time  to  kill  the  hag ;  if  we  delay  she  may  com- 
mit a  sin  in  thought  or  deed,  and  the  confession  will 
go  for  nothing."  As  she  burned,  two  of  her  children 
cried,  "Aroint  thee,  witch!"  I  do  not  refer  to  this 
to  intimate  that  the  French  people  sympathize  with 
such  things,  for  France  was  filled  with  horror,  and  the 
murderers  were  brought  to  justice,  l)ut  as  an  illustra- 
tion of  the  persistence  of  the  belief. 

In  Norway,  Sweden,  and  Denmark  witchcraft  yet 
throws  a  spell  over  many  of  the  sailors,  fishermen,  and 
solitary  farmers.  In  Lapland  sorcerers  and  witches 
abound,  the  latter  claiming  the  power  of  stilling 
winds  and  causing  rain  to  cease.  It  has  been  a  com- 
paratively short  time  since  English  seamen  trading 
in  Archangel  were  in  the  habit  of  landing  and  buy- 
ing a  fair  wind  from  the  witches. 

But  it  is  in  Russia  that  the  popular  belief  more 
generally  resembles  that  of  the  whole  world  many 
centuries  ago.  Ralston,  in  "Songs  of  the  Russian 
People,"  states :  "  But  a  little  time  ago  every  Russian 
village  had  its  wizard,  almost  as  a  matter  of  course, 
and  to  this  day  it  is  said  there  is  not  a  hamlet  in  the 
Ukraine  that  is  not  reported  to  keep  its  witch."  When 
traveling  in  the  interior  of  that  country,  accompanied 
by  a  master  of  the  Russian  language,  I  found  that 
the  peasants  still  l)elieve  that  witches  and  wizards 
can  steal  the  dew  and  the  rain,  send  wliirlwinds,  hide 


WITCHCRAFT  203 

the  moon  and  the  stars,  and  fly  through  the  air  on 
brooms  and  tongs.  Their  chief  meetings  take  place 
three  times  a  year,  on  "bald  hills,"  and  there  are 
thousands  of  stories  of  witches  going  up  chimneys 
and  flying  through  the  air;  an  analogy  exists  between 
these  and  ancient  German  legends  on  the  same  sub- 
ject. They  chalk  crosses  on  their  huts  and  windows, 
hang  up  stove-rakes  for  protection,  tie  knots,  and 
wear  amulets.  Plagues  in  men  and  cattle  are  popu- 
larly attributed  to  witches.  Epileptics,  and  those 
afflicted  with  St.  Vitus's  dance,  are  supposed  to  be 
bewitched.  According  to  popular  belief  in  Russia, 
witches  assume  the  form  of  dogs,  cats,  and  owls ;  but 
the  shape  they  like  best  is  that  of  a  magpie.  The  Met- 
ropolitan Alexis  solemnly  cursed  that  bird,  "  on  ac- 
count of  the  bad  behavior  of  the  witches  who  have 
assumed  its  plumage." 

In  Scotland,  Ireland,  and  England  belief  in  witch- 
craft lingers,  and  only  those  who  are  at  the  pains  to 
inquire  how  far  it  extends,  and  how  strong  the  im- 
pression is,  can  form  an  adequate  idea  of  either. 


LOOKING  BACKWARD 

It  is  important  to  notice  how  late  in  the  Christian 
era  individual  belief,  popular  excitements,  and  judi- 
cial proceedings  have  been  sufficiently  conspicuous 
for  permanent  record. 

In  "  Reports  of  Trials  for  Murder  by  Poisoning," 
by  Browne,  a  barrister  at  law,  and  Stewart,  seni<n* 
assistant  in  the  laboratory  of  St.  Thomas's  Hospital, 
a  standard  work  for  physicians,  chemists,  and  jurists, 
published  in  London  in  188,3,  I  find  the  case  of 
Dove;  and  in  the  said  ti-ial  various  rcforences  were 
made  to  the  prevalence  of  the  belief  in  witchcraft 


204  WITCHCRAFT 

among  persons  of  the  prisoner's  class.  It  appears 
from  the  evidence  that  his  interviews  with  the  witch- 
man  on  the  subjects  of  lost  cattle,  removing  strange 
noises  from  his  house,  the  bewitching  of  his  live  stock, 
and  the  deaths  of  persons  inimical  to  hiin,  and  the 
promise  of  the  witch-man  to  get  him  out  of  all  diffi- 
culty, which  led  to  the  murder,  were  in  the  summer 
and  autumn  of  1855  and  the  spring  of  1856. 

In  1846  in  England,  and  in  1845  in  Scotland,  cases 
of  witchcraft  attracted  much  attention. 

The  following  series  of  incidents  occurred  in  Eng- 
land about  fifty  years  ago,  and  the  son  of  the  subject, 
now  one  of  the  most  highly  respected  and  well-in- 
formed clergymen  west  of  the  Alleghany  Mountains, 
noted  for  his  devotion  to  the  physical  sciences,  writes 
me  concerning  it: 

My  father,  like  Tnany  others,  fully  believed  in  witchcraft.  In 
a  little  ancient  cottage  about  a  mile  from  my  father's  lived  an 
old  woman  who  had  the  reputation  of  being  a  witch.  One 
spring,  as  my  father  was  planting  potatoes  in  his  field,  the  old 
lady  came  to  him  to  beg  a  piece  for  a  garden.  This  he  said  he 
could  not  grant,  as  he  needed  all  for  himself.  She  left  the  field 
muttering  something,  which  I  suppose  my  father  understood  to 
mean  mischief.  That  evening,  when  still  in  the  field,  ho  was 
seized  with  a  strange  nervous  sensation,  and  an  utter  inability 
to  speak.  Later  in  the  evening  he  had  a  severe  fit.  This  state 
of  things  continued  for  some  years.  Mother  always  sent  one  of 
the  boys  with  him  to  render  help  or  report  his  condition.  An- 
other phase  of  the  witchcraft  superstition  was  a  belief  in  white 
witches,  or  those  who  couLi  neutralize  or  destroy  the  work  and 
influence  of  witches.  Myfatlier  heard  of  one  living  many  miles 
away,  and  at  once  went  to  see  him.  I  shall  ever  remember  the 
interest  with  which  we  listened  to  his  story.  He  said  the  white 
witch  told  him  that  he  had  been  bewitched,  as  he  sujiposed,  by 
the  old  woman,  but  that  her  influence  could  be  entirely  de- 
stroyed. He  then  gave  my  father  a  little  piece  of  paper  upon 
which  was  writf(Mi  a  cliarm  whicli  would  in  all  future  time  pro- 
tect him  from  all  influence  of  witches.  This  i)a))er  nmst  bo 
worn  over  the  breast,  suspended  by  a  piece  of  tape  from  tlie 
neck.  It  nnist  never  be  opened,  never  touch  wood,  stone,  or 
iron,  nor  bo  handled  by  any  one  but  himself.     Said  my  father 


WITCHCRAFT  205 

in  concluding  his  story:  "The  white  witch  told  me  to  always 
wear  this  over  my  breast,  and  that  inside  of  three  days  I  shall 
have  one  fit  more,  but  after  that  I  will  never  have  another 
sj-mptom  of  the  kind."  The  following  evening  when  at  supper 
he  had  another  severe  attack  of  his  old  trouble,  but  sure  enough 
it  was  the  last.  Ho  lived  more  than  twenty  years  after  that, 
but  never  had  another  symptom  of  fits,  or  nervous  difficulty  of 
any  kind.     He  was  absolutely  cured,  as  I  know. 

In  March,  1831,  the  case  of  an  old  woman  in  Edin- 
burgh came  before  the  court  on  account  of  her  being 
attacked. 

In  1827  a  man  was  burned  as  a  wizard  in  south- 
western Russia;  and  in  1815  a  person  in  northern 
Russia  was  sentenced  by  a  legal  tribunal  to  undergo 
thirty-five  blows  of  the  knout,  as  well  as  a  public  church 
penance,  for  witchcraft. 

In  1815  Captain  Samuel  Ward  well  of  Maine,  cap- 
tain of  the  schooner  Polly,  desiring  to  excel  all  his 
competitors  in  the  number  of  trips  made  botwoen 
Boston  and  Penobscot  in  one  season,  hired  Mrs. 
Leach,  a  reputed  witch,  for  a  bushel  of  meal  a  trip,  to 
guarantee  him  fair  winds. 

"  Moll  Pitcher,"  so  famous  that  for  more  than  fifty 
years  "to  her  came  the  rich  and  the  poor,  the  wise 
and  the  ignorant,  the  accomplished  and  tlie  vulgar, 
the  brave  and  the  timid,"  died  April  9, 1813,  in  Lynn, 
Massachusetts,  aged  seventy-five  years. 

Contemporary  with  her  was  a  woman  in  Newbnry- 
port,  who  came  from  Scotland  in  1759  or  17G0.  Her 
career  for  many  years  was  such  as  to  command  the 
respect  and  fear  of  the  people.  Mr.  Samuel  L.  Knap]), 
who  wrote  in  1825,  speaks  of  another  supposed  witcli 
in  Massachusetts  named  Danforth,  who  lived  in  a 
gloomy,  hollow  glen.  On  this  Mr.  Samuel  G.  Drake, 
writing  in  1869,  says: 

The  writer  is  not  as  old  as  he  from  whom  the  above  extracts 
are  made;  but  it  was  his  fortune  in  youth  to  \w  acquainteil  in 
many  towns,  in  nearly  all  of  which  tliere  was  a  reputed  witch. 

18 


206  WITCHCRAFT 

In  1751,  in  Hertfordshire,  two  harmless  people  were 
mobbed,  the  woman  beaten  to  death,  the  man  nearly 
so.  A  similar  incident  happened  as  late  as  1776  in 
Leicestershire.  In  Burlington,  New  Jersey,  in  Jan- 
uary, 1731,  a  man  and  woman  suspected  of  bewitch- 
ing cattle  were  tried  in  the  presence  of  the  governor, 
by  being  weighed  against  a  large  Bible. 

In  1728  Rhode  Island  reenacted  its  laws  against 
witchcraft,  which  implies  some  agitation  upon  the 
subject;  in  1720  there  was  a  case  in  Littleton;  prose- 
cutions occurred  in  South  Carolina  in  1712;  in  1706 
there  were  disgraceful  scenes,  persons  being  subjected 
to  ordeals  and  various  barbarous  tests;  and  in  the 
year  1700  an  execution  for  witchcraft  took  place  in 
Albany,  New  York. 

In  noting  these  events  we  have  reached  the  period 
of  the  dreadful  outbreak  in  New  England,  separated 
by  only  a  few  years  from  a  yet  more  dreadful  frenzy 
of  human  nature  in  England,  Scotland,  and  on  the 
continent  of  Europe. 


REVERSING  THE  POINT  OF  VIEW 

Whence  came  witchcraft?  Writings,  pictures, 
monuments,  ruins,  and  traditions  preserve  the  his- 
tory of  mankind;  but  man  himself,  in  color,  configu- 
ration, unconscious  gesture,  language,  rites,  customs, 
and  unwritten  laws,  is  a  true  encyclopedia  of  human- 
ity more  valuable  than  the  contents  of  libraries. 

As  a  general  proposition,  the  uncivilized  tribes  of 
the  world  may  be  said  to  have  been,  from  prehistoric 
times,  what  they  are  now.  Mounds  and  other  remains 
of  uncertain  date  indeed  often  show  a  higher  degree 
of  development  than  at  present  exists  among  the  in- 


WITCHCRAFT  207 

habitants  of  particular  regions ;  but  this  is  not  con- 
elusive  proof  of  degeneration,  because  of  the  vastness 
and  complexity  of  ancient  migrations  of  which  no 
adequate  history  remains.  The  state  of  primitive  un- 
civilized mankind,  wlien  widely  scattered  and  numer- 
ous in  population,  may  therefore  be  inferred  from  the 
present  condition  of  barbarous  tribes.  In  all  these 
witchcraft  is  believed  in,  producing  a  mortal  dread, 
and  its  practice  is  punished  by  death  in  the  most 
horrible  forms.  In  China,  India,  and  Japan  it  has 
always  existed  and  still  prevails. 

In  the  ancient  empires,  the  Magism  of  the  Median 
court,  with  its  incantations,  divining-rods,  omen-read- 
ing, and  dream-expounding,  became  closely  allied  to 
witchcraft,  as  in  Scj'thia  in  previous  ages,  and  subse- 
quently in  Persia.  Many  of  its  practitioners  openly 
avowed  the  aid  of  evil  spirits.  While  both  Magism 
and  Zoroastrianisra  had  an  essentially  religious  basis, 
witchcraft  hung  upon  their  skirts  continually  endeav- 
oring to  rival  them.  In  Babylon  the  Magi  included 
the  scientists  and  philosophers  of  the  age ;  but  as 
quacks  are  parasites  upon  modern  scientists,  deriv- 
ing from  general  names,  such  as  "  physician  "  or  *'  pro- 
fessor," held  in  common  with  those  entitled  to  them  a 
particular  reputation  with  the  common  people  while 
practising  the  most  shameless  impostures,  so  many 
of  the  Babylonian  astronomers  were  astrologers,  and 
others  of  the  Magi  dealt  avowedly  with  spirits. 

In  Egypt,  notwithstanding  the  sublimity  of  the  re- 
ligion which  taught  a  system  of  morality  founded  up- 
on a  final  judgment,  a  swarm  of  basest  superstitions 
and  most  demoralizing  influences  counteracted  its  in- 
fluence; and  witchcraft  ])revailed  among  the  people 
at  the  very  time  that  Egypt  was  surpassing  other 
nations  in  science.  In  Benjamin's  sack  was  found 
Joseph's  cup,  "whereby,  indeed,  he  divineth'';    and 


208  WITCHCRAFT 

his  own  words,  "  Wot  ye  uot  that  such  a  man  as  I  can 
certainly  divine  ? "  reveal  the  custom  in  Ej^ypt. 

The  various  forms  of  consulting  evil  spirits,  of 
seeking  illegitimately  preternatural  help  and  know- 
ledge, were  all  practised  by  the  Canaanites  and  their 
descendants  the  Phenicians.  Isaiah  traces  the  exis- 
tence of  such  things  back  to  the  Chaldeans  and  the 
Babylonians. 

The  answer  of  the  Chaldeans  to  Nebuchadnezzar 
showed  that  throughout  the  world  such  a  class  ex- 
isted; for  they  said,  '^  There  is  not  a  man  upon  the 
earth  that  can  show  the  king's  matter;  therefore  there 
is  no  king,  lord,  nor  ruler  that  asked  such  things  at  any 
magician,  or  astrologer,  or  Chaldean." 


THE  ISRAELITES   AND   WITCHCRAFT 

The  Israelites  came  from  a  people  surrounded  by 
idolatry,  and  addicted  to  sorcery.  They  ap})ear  to 
have  believed  for  a  long  time  in  the  reality  of  the 
gods  of  the  heathen,  considering  them  inferior,  how- 
ever, to  the  God  of  Abraham,  Isaac,  and  Jacob,  and 
were  continually  lapsing  from  the  true  faith  into 
paganism  and  sorcery.  During  the  hundreds  of  years 
that  Jacob's  descendants  were  in  Egypt  their  faith 
was  greatly  corrupted;  when  Moses  tarried  long  in 
the  Mount,  they  compelled  Aaron  to  make  a  golden 
image  to  represent  God.  Surrounded  by  the  Egyp- 
tians, and  in  the  midst  of  the  Canaanites,  who  were  not 
wholly  driven  out  for  centuries,  their  kings  and  Tuany 
of  their  ])eople  frequently  relapsed  into  witchcraft 
and  idolatry. 

Solomon,  according  to  all  the  traditions  of  antiquity, 
as  well  as  the  testimony  of  the  Bil)le,  turned  ))()th  to 
idolatry   and   magic.     In  D'Israeli's  '*  Curiosities  of 


WITCHCRAFT  209 

Literature"  (Rabbinical  Stories)  it  is  said,  "He  is  a 
favorite  hero  of  the  Talmudists,  and  the  Arabs  also 
speak  of  him  as  a  magician."  The  son  of  the  godly 
Hezekiah,  Manasseh,  "  practised  augury,  and  used  en- 
chantments, and  practised  sorcery,  and  dealt  with 
them  that  had  familiar  spirits,  and  with  wizards." 
There  never  was  a  time  in  the  history  of  Israel  that 
among  its  people  were  not  those  who  practised  every 
form  of  divination,  astrology,  magic,  and  witchcraft. 


WITCHCRAFT  AND  CHRISTIANITY 

Christianity  originated  among  the  Hebrews,  who 
were  firm  believers  in  the  reality  of  witchcraft.  It 
was  immediately  brought  into  contact  with  the  Ro- 
mans, of  whose  empire  Syria  was  a  province;  and 
with  the  Greeks,  among  whom  it  spread  during  the 
apostolic  age.  Among  the  Greeks  and  Romans  the 
same  general  belief,  with  the  corresponding  practices, 
existed.  Homer  is  said  to  have  derived  many  of  his 
verses  from  Daphne,  the  daughter  of  Tyreseis  the 
Soothsayer,  who  was  considered  to  surpass  all  women 
in  the  art  of  divination.  Scot,  in  his  "  Discoverie  of 
Witchcraft,"  gives  extended  extracts,  among  others 
the  passage  in  Ovid: 

Witches  can  bleed  our  ground  by  magic  spell, 
And  with  enchantment  dry  the  springing  soil; 
Make  grapes  and  currants  fly  at  their  command, 
And  strip  our  orchards  bare  without  a  hand. 

Virgil  and  Horace  make  similar  references.  Lecky 
affirms  that  "  Sorcery  could  say  with  truth  that  there 
was  not  a  single  nation  of  anticjuity,  from  the  ])()!- 
ished  Greek  to  tlie  rudest  savage,  whicli  did  not  admit 
a  real  art  enabling  men  to  foretell  the  future." 


210  WITCHCRAFT 

In  Asia  Minor  and  adjacent  Oriental  countries  Chris- 
tianity was  saturated  with  superstitions  of  every  kind, 
the  entire  mass  directly  or  indirectly  affecting  Chris- 
tians of  every  nation.  The  New  Testament  shows 
that  Christianity  did  not  at  once  eradicate  preexist- 
ing superstitions.  It  required  a  renunciation  of  the 
worship  of  idols,  faith  in  Cod  as  superior  to  all  an- 
tagonistic forces,  natural  and  supernatural,  and  obedi- 
ence to  the  precepts  of  Christ  and  his  Apostles ;  but 
there  is  no  reason  to  believe  that  it  distinguished  con- 
cerning the  natural  or  supernatural  origin  of  many 
superstitious  beliefs  not  essentially  incompatible  with 
submission  to  the  Gospel.  The  credulity  of  the  early 
Christians  is  apparent  in  the  writings  of  most  of  the 
ante-Nicene  fathers.  They  believed  in  the  supernat- 
ural origin  of  many  of  the  alleged  pagan  miracles, 
some  of  them  in  the  fable  of  the  phenix,  and  were 
prepared  to  accept  any  tale  of  strange  things  which 
could  be  attributed  to  the  devil  or  his  agents.  Extra- 
ordinary knowledge,  devotion  to  philosophy,  and  the 
practice  of  arts  not  understood  by  the  people,  es- 
pecially by  persons  suspected  of  heresy,  were  made 
the  foundation  of  social  persecutions  and  legal  pros- 
ecutions for  witchcraft. 

Roger  Bacon,  in  the  thirteenth  century,  on  account 
of  his  scientific  attainments,  was  charged  with  witch- 
craft, denounced  by  the  Pope,  and  several  times  im- 
prisoned. From  time  to  time  trials  for  witchcraft  are 
recorded  in  Roman  historv.  In  the  fourth  century 
ecclesiastical  decrees  against  it  were  made,  and  at 
various  periods  trials  took  place  under  them.  Europe 
was  permeated  with  the  superstition. 

Early  Christian  laws  partook  largely  of  the  na- 
ture and  of  the  spirit  of  the  enactments  of  the  same 
races  when  in  paganism.  The  Ostrogoths  punished 
it  with  death ;  the  Visigoths  with   stripes,  shaving 


WITCHCRAFT  211 

the  head,  and  exposure.  The  pa^an  Saxons  burned 
witches  and  sorcerers,  and  even  ate  them.  The  Au- 
gh)-Saxons  phiced  them  under  penalty  of  death ;  the 
ancient  hiw  of  Scothmd  burned  them  at  the  stake. 
In  Hungary  they  were  first  handed  over  to  the  })ishoj), 
then  branded  on  the  foreliead,  neck,  and  back  in  the 
form  of  a  cross. 

The  accusation  of  witclicraft  was  frequently  used 
afjainst  societies,  such  as  the  Templars,  from  1307  to 
1313.  It  was  on  this  charge  that  Joan  of  Arc  wjis 
burned  to  death.  Thus  in  1429  the  Stedingcr,  who 
had  fought  for  nearly  thirty  years  against  the  Arch- 
l)ishop  of  Bremen  and  the  (,'ount  of  Oldenburg,  were, 
with  the  help  of  the  Pope,  suppressed. 

In  1488  Pope  Innocent  VIII.  issued  a  bnll  establish- 
ing commissions  of  inquisitors,  and  succeeding  popes 
appointed  other  commissions.  Sometimes  the  sus- 
pects were  accused  of  heresy  aggravated  by  witch- 
craft, and  again  of  witchcraft  leading  to  heresy.  But 
witchcraft  was  the  charge  that  especially  inflamed  the 
populace,  and  was  pursued  with  the  greatest  zeal  by 
the  inquisitors.  The  epidemic  raged  in  France  so 
that  by  the  end  of  1320  fires  for  the  execution  of 
witches  blazed  in  nearly  every  town.  The  more  fires 
the  more  witches,  accusations,  and  trials :  the  priests 
began  to  despair,  wondering  how  it  could  ])e  explained 
that  it  was  impossible  to  commit  ''so  great  a  number 
of  tiie  Devil's  slaves  to  the  flames,  but  that  there  shall 
arise  from  their  ashes  a  sufficient  number  to  sup])ly 
their  places."     Seldom  were  there  ac([uittals. 

Luther  and  the  reformers  l)elieved  as  finnly  in  the 
existence  of  witchcraft  as  the  Roman  Catholics,though 
the  latter  charged  tluit  the  Hussites  in  Bohemia,  and 
the  followers  of  Luther,  deceived  the  ])eople  l)y  magic 
and  wit(;licraft.  A  Jesuit  theological  ))r<tfessor  de- 
clan'd  that  Albert  of  Brandenburg  was  the  king  of 


212  WITCHCRAFT 

wizards,  a  famous  magician  who  laid  waste  the  coun- 
try with  fire  and  sword.  The  same  Jesuit  affirmed 
that  wherever  the  heresy  of  Calvin  went  in  England, 
Wales,  or  Ireland,  the  "  black  and  diabolical  arts  of 
necromancy  kept  pace  with  it.*'  Charlton  T.  Lewis, 
LL.  D.,  in  his  history  of  Germany,  says,  "  Protestants 
and  Catholics  alike  carried  on  their  judicial  barbari- 
ties, which  desolated  whole  tracts  of  country.  Neither 
age,  sex,nor  rank  was  a  protection  against  this  persecu- 
tion. Counselors  and  scholars  were  sent  to  the  stake, 
though  women  were  the  especial  objects  of  vengeance; 
and  the  trials  did  not  end  until  the  reign  of  Frederick 
the  Great." 

In  England  laws,  both  ecclesiastical  and  civil,  were 
enacted  against  witchcraft.  Various  changes  were 
made  in  the  phraseology  of  the  law  down  to  the  time 
of  Elizabeth,  when  sorceries,  enchantments,  charms, 
and  witchcraft  were  made  punishable  with  death  when 
death  ensued  from  their  practice ;  in  other  eases,  for 
a  first  offense,  a  year's  imprisonment,  and  for  a  second, 
death.  James  I.  was  not  satisfied  with  any  previous 
act,  as  he  was  "an  expert  and  specialist  in  the  matter." 
In  his  time  a  law  was  passed  making  various  distinc- 
tions. In  Scotland  similar  acts  were  passed,  the  chief 
of  them  dating  from  1563.  In  Ireland  trials  took 
place  as  early  as  1324  in  ecclesiastical  courts. 


THE    PROBLEM 

The  history  of  witchcraft  exhibits  features  com- 
mon to  all  forms  of  mental  and  moral  contagion,  and 
its  characteristics  are  similar  everywhere ;  so  that  the 
study  of  its  phenomena  in  New  England,  where  the 
information  is  full,  the  dfite  recent,  and  the  habits, 
language,  religion,  and  institutions  analogous  to  those 


WITCHCRAFT  213 

of  all  English-speaking  races,  will  have  special  ad- 
vantages. 

The  first  settlers  of  New  England  brought  across 
the  Atlantic  the  sentiments  which  had  been  formed 
in  their  minds  in  Great  Britain  and  on  the  Continent, 
as  well  as  the  tendencies  which  were  the  common 
heritage  of  such  an  ancestry.  They  were  a  very  reli- 
gious and  also  credulous  people;  having  few  books, 
no  papers,  little  news,  and  virtually  no  science;  re- 
moved by  thousands  of  miles  and  months  of  time 
from  Old  World  civilization ;  living  in  the  midst  of 
an  untamed  wilderness,  contending  against  a  climate 
unlike  anything  they  had  experienced,  surrounded  by 
Indians  whom  they  believed  to  be  under  the  control 
of  the  devil,  and  whose  medicine-men  and  soothsayers 
they  accounted  wizards.  Such  mental  and  moral  soil 
was  adapted  to  the  growth  of  witchcraft,  and  to  create 
an  invincible  determination  to  inflict  the  punishments 
pronounced  against  it  in  the  Old  Testament;  but  the 
cooperation  of  various  exciting  causes  was  necessary 
to  a  general  agitation  and  a  real  epidemic. 

Samuel  G.  Drake's  "Annals  of  Witchcraft  in  New 
England  and  Elsewhere  in  the  United  States,  from 
their  first  Settlement,"  which  is  here  epitomized,  en- 
ables us  to  trace  the  sporadic  manifestations  of  witch- 
craft step  by  step  to  the  fearful  explosion  of  1()92. 
The  Pilgrims  landed  in  Plymouth  in  1G20.  In  1G;3G 
they  included  in  the  summary  of  offenses  '^  lyable  to 
death,"  "the  solemn  compaction  or  conversing  with 
the  Divell  by  the  way  of  Witchcraft,  conjuration,  or 
the  like."  The  colony  of  Massachusetts  adopted  the 
Body  of  Liberties,  which  contains  a  similar  clause. 
In  1042  Connecticut  included  this  in  its  Capital  Code: 
"  Yf  any  Man  or  Woman  ])c  a  witch,  that  is,  hath  or 
conforteth  with  a  Familiar  Spirit,  they  fhall  l)e  i)ut 
to  death." 


214  WITCHCRAFT 

It  is  believed  that  the  first  actual  trouble  from 
witchcraft  occurred  in  New  Haven,  and  the  first  exe- 
cution was  in  16-10  in  Hartford.  In  1647  Rhode  Island 
made  the  penalty  '^  Felone  of  Death." 

The  first  execution  for  witchcraft  in  the  colony  of 
Massachusetts  Bay  was  that  of  Mrs.  Jones  in  Boston 
in  1648.  Another  woman  was  executed  in  Hartford 
in  1648. 

From  the  settlement  of  Springfield  in  1636  there 
was  more  or  less  trouble  about  witchcraft. 

Mrs.  Knapp  suffered  death  in  the  New  Haven  colony 
in  1653.  The  troubles  continued  through  1654  and 
1655.  In  1656  Mrs.  Ann  Hibbens  was  executed  in 
Boston.  In  the  same  year  there  was  a  trial  at  Ports- 
mouth, but  no  conviction.  In  East  Hampton,  Long 
Island,  in  1657,  Mrs.  Garlicke  was  tried  for  witchcraft. 

There  were  troubles  in  1659  at  Saybrook,  Connec- 
ticut, and  Andover,  Massachusetts.  In  1660  at  Scit- 
uate,  Plymouth,  and  at  Oyster  Bay,  Long  Island, 
there  were  disturbances,  but  no  convictions.  In  1662 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Green  Smith  were  executed  at  Hartford, 
and  in  1665  the  Court  of  Sessions  in  the  State  of  New 
York  tried  Ralph  Hall  and  his  wife  Mary.  They 
were  finally  acquitted  after  three  years'  imprisonment. 
In  1669  Susannah  Martin  was  prosecuted.  She  was 
one  of  those  afterward  execnted  at  Salem.  Catharine 
Harrison  of  Wethersfield  was  convicted,  but  the  spe- 
cial court  reversed  the  decision. 

Mrs.  Mary  Parsons,  of  the  highest  social  standing 
in  Northampton,  was  charged  with  witchcraft  in 
1674,  kept  in  prison  several  months,  and  acquitted. 
At  that  time  three  of  the  most  enlightened  men  of 
the  age,  Governor  Leverett  and  Generals  Gookin  and 
Dennison,  had  charge  of  the  administration. 

In  1675  a  queerly  worded  law  was  enacted  to  regu- 
late the  Pequot  Indians:  "Whofoever  fhall  Powau 


WITCHCRAFT  215 

or  vfe  Witchcraft,  or  any  Worfhip  of  the  Devill,  or 
any  fals  Gods,  fliall  be  con  vented  punifhed." 

In  1681  and  1682  in  Massachusetts  there  was  much 
excitement,  and  cases  arose  in  1683  which  show  a 
descent  to  the  lowest  depths  of  barbaric  superstition. 
In  1684  Margaret  Matson  was  tried  in  Dehiware 
County,  Pennsylvania,  before  William  Penn.  Phila- 
delphia was  then  only  three  years  old.  The  court 
brought  in  the  verdict  that  she  was  "  guilty  of  having 
the  common  fame  of  a  witch,  but  not  guilty  in  manner 
and  form  as  she  stands  indicted."  Tradition  says  that 
Penn  said  to  her,  "Art  thou  a  witch?"  and  "Hast 
thou  ridden  through  the  air  on  a  broomstick  ? "  When 
she  answered  yes,  he  said  that  she  had  a  right  to  ride 
on  a  broomstick,  that  he  knew  no  law  against  it,  and 
thereupon  ordered  her  discharge. 

In  1685  Mary  Webster,  who  had  been  acquitted  in 
Boston  in  1683,  was  accused  of  killing  William  Smith 
by  sorcery.  She  was  acquitted,  but  harassed  by  the 
people  and  often  mobbed  until  her  death  in  1696. 
The  famous  case  of  the  Goodwin  children  in  Boston 
occurred  in  1688.  Mary  Randall  was  arrested  in 
Springfield  in  1691,  and  kept  in  jail  for  a  while,  but 
there  was  no  trial. 

Thus  it  ap})ears  that,  from  the  settlement  of  New 
England,  wherever  unaccountable  events  took  place, — 
if  horses  and  cattle  were  sick  in  an  unusual  manner 
or  acted  strangely ;  if  adults  or  children  were  attacked 
by  incurable  or  mysterious  diseases;  if  lightning 
struck  men,  animals,  or  buildings,  or  storms  disturbed 
sailors, —  the  cause  was  attributed  to  witchcraft. 
Under  such  circumstances  any  woman  who  had  in- 
curred the  animosity  of  neighbors,  especially  if  she 
had  made  threats  against  "afflicted"  persons,  was 
liable  to  the  suspicion  of  comi>li('ity  with  the  devil. 
But  as  there  had  been  onlv  two  or  three  executions 


216  WITCHCRAFT 

at  most  in  any  one  part  of  the  country,  and  intelli- 
gence of  the  trials  spread  slowly,  no  great  excitement 
arose  until  1692. 

In  view  of  the  preceding  history,  the  events  in 
Salem,  Salem  Village,  and  vicinity  might  have  been 
expected  in  any  community  in  New  England  where 
many  social  feuds  existed,  and  where  strong  supersti- 
tion, great  energy,  and  force  of  will,  with  an  entire 
want  of  discretion,  were  united  in  the  character  of 
the  minister  of  the  parish.  All  these  conditions  ex- 
isted in  Salem  Village,  where  the  epidemic  originated. 

Upham,  in  "Salem  Witchcraft,"  has  portrayed  in  a 
graphic  and  convincing  manner  the  influence  of  lo- 
cal feuds  upon  the  investigation  of  charges.  But  if 
the  people  of  New  England  had  not  believed  in  the 
reality  of  witchcraft,  and  if  their  laws  had  not  decreed 
the  penalty  of  death  against  those  convicted  of  prac- 
tising it,  personal,  social,  and  ecclesiastical  animosi- 
ties could  not  have  caused  such  terrible  deeds. 

Salem  witchcraft  thus  arose :  The  Rev.  Mr.  Parris, 
minister  of  the  church  in  Salem  Village,  had  formerly 
lived  in  the  West  Indies,  and  brought  a  few  negro 
slaves  back  with  him.  These  slaves  talked  with  the 
children  of  the  neighborhood,  some  of  whom  could 
not  read,  while  the  others  had  but  little  to  read.  In 
the  winter  of  1691-92  they  formed  a  kind  of  circle 
which  met  at  Mr,  Parris's  house,  probably  unknown 
to  him,  to  practise  palmistry  and  fortune-telling,  and 
learn  what  they  could  of  magic  and  necromancy. 
This  circle  consisted  of  two  or  three  negro  slaves; 
Elizabeth,  daughter  of  Mr.  Parris,  aged  nine;  his 
niece  Abigail  Williams,  eleven;  Ann  Putnam,  twelve' 
(Upham  says  that  the  last-named  was  the  leading 
agent  in  all  the  mischief  that  followed);  Mary  Wal- 
cot,  seventeen;  Mercy  Lewis,  seventeen  (she  was  one 
of  the  worst,  and  fairly  reveled  in  murder  and  mis- 


WITCHCRAFT  217 

erj');  Elizabeth  Hubbard,  seventeen  (almost  as  bad); 
Elizabeth  Booth  and  Susannah  Sheldon,  each  eigh- 
teen; and  two  servants,  Mar>'  Warren  and  Sarah 
Churcliill,  each  twenty  years  of  age.  These  servants 
hated  the  families  of  John  Proctor  and  George 
Jacobs,  with  whom  they  lived.  With  them  met  three 
married  women,  one  the  mother  of  Ann  Putnam. 

Before  the  winter  was  over  some  of  them  fully  be- 
lieved that  they  were  under  the  influence  of  spirits. 
Epidemic  hysteria  arose;  physicians  could  not  explain 
their  state:  the  cry  was  raised  that  they  wore  be- 
witched; and  some  began  to  make  charges  against 
those  whom  they  disliked  of  having  bewitched  them. 
In  the  end  those  of  stronger  mind  among  them  be- 
came managers  and  plotters,  directing  the  rest  at 
their  will.  By  the  time  public  attention  was  attracted 
Mr.  Parris  had  come  to  the  conclusion  that  they  wore 
bewitched,  and,  having  a  theory  to  maintain,  encour- 
aged and  flattered  them,  and  by  his  questions  made 
even  those  who  had  not  believed  themselves  bewitched 
think  that  they  were. 

From  March,  1692,  to  May,  1093,  about  two  hun- 
dred persons  were  imprisoned.  Of  these  some  escaped 
by  the  help  of  friends,  some  by  bribing  their  jailors, 
a  number  died  in  prison,  and  one  hundred  and  fifty 
were  set  free  at  the  close  of  the  excitement  by  the 
proclamation  of  the  governor.  Nineteen  were  exe- 
cuted, namely :  On  July  19,  Sarah  Good,  Sarah  Wildes, 
Elizabeth  Howe,  George  Jacobs,  Susannah  Martin 
(who  had  been  tried  and  acquitted  in  Boston  about 
twenty  years  before),  and  Rebecca  Nurse ;  on  August 
19,  John  Proctor,  Bridget  Bishop,  George  Burroughs 
(minister  of  the  gospel),  Martha  Carrier,  and  John 
Willard ;  on  Septonibor  22,  Martha  Corey,  Mary 
p]astoy,  Alice  Parker,  Mary  Parker,  Ann  Pudeater, 
Willtnet  Kedd,  Margaret  Seolt,  and  Samuel  Ward- 
19 


218  WITCHCRAFT 

well.  Giles  Corey,  a  man  eighty  years  of  age,  when 
charged  refused  to  plead,  and  was  pressed  to  death  — 
the  only  instance  of  the  application  of  this  ancient 
law  on  the  American  continent. 

When  it  is  remembered  that  a  number  of  these 
persons  were  among  the  most  pious  and  amiable  of 
the  people  of  Salem,  Salem  Village,  and  other  parts 
of  Essex  County;  that  they  were  related  by  blood, 
marriage,  friendship,  and  Christian  fellowship  to 
many  of  those  who  cried  out  against  them,  both  as 
accusers  and  supporters  of  the  prosecutions,  the  trans- 
action must  be  classed  among  the  darkest  in  human 
history. 


DOES    THE     BIBLE     TEACH    THE    REALITY    OF 
WITCHCRAFT? 

Sir  Matthew  Hale,  in  his  "Trial  of  Witches,'' 
1661,  basing  the  conclusion  upon  the  Scriptures, 
afiirms  that  there  is  a  real  supernatural  operation  of 
the  devil  at  the  request  of  a  witch.  John  Wesley, 
who  was  born  only  twelve  years  after  the  scenes  in 
Salem,  wrote  in  May,  1768:  **They  well  know  [mean- 
ing infidels,  materialists,  and  deists]  —  whether  Chris- 
tians know  it  or  not  —  that  the  giving  up  of  witch- 
craft is  in  effect  giving  up  the  Bible.''  In  a  letter  to 
his  brother,  written  some  years  afterward,  he  declares 
that  he  believes  all  Cotton  Mather's  stories.  His 
opinions  upon  these  subjects  were  those  of  the  age, 
but  did  not  convince  his  brother  Charles,  who  fre- 
quently expostulated  with  him  for  his  credulity. 
With  the  same  spirit  and  in  the  same  way  he  affirmed 
it  a  giving  up  of  the  Bible  to  question  various  ideas 
now  rejected  by  the  most  devout  Christians,  and  did 
on  some  points  himself  repudiate  in  later  periods  of 


WITCHCRAFT  219 

his  life  what  in  similar  language  he  had  condemiud 
others  for  disbelieving. 

An  examination  of  the  references  to  witchcraft 
shows  that  only  the  existence  and  criminality  of  the 
attempt  to  practise  it  are  to  be  concluded  from  the 
words  of  the  Scriptures.  The  conclusion  is  not  well 
founded  that  if  there  was  no  reality  in  witchcraft 
the  prophets  and  apostles  must  necessarily  have 
known  it ;  for  the  Scriptures  show  that  the  prophets 
were  limited  in  knowledge  upon  a  variety  of  points, 
many  of  them  closely  allied  to  the  religious  truths 
which  they  taught.  They  drew  illustrations  from 
supposed  facts  of  science,  medicine,  and  natural  his- 
tory, which  served  their  purpose  for  the  time;  and  in 
sHch  particulars  wrote  exactly  as  authors  of  to-day, 
who  find  their  illustrations  in  the  state  of  knowledge 
in  the  age  in  which  they  live.  Moses  declares  that 
*'  the  man  or  the  woman  who  hath  a  familiar  spirit,  or 
is  a  wizard,  shall  be  put  to  deatli'';  and  "thou  shalt 
not  suffer  a  witch  [Rev.  Ver.  a  sorceress]  to  live."  It 
is  clear  that  the  same  law  would  be  needed  and  the 
same  language  would  be  employed  if  the  pretense  of 
having  a  familiar  spirit,  or  the  attempt  to  practise 
witchcraft,  were  in  question.  In  Deuteronomy  xviii., 
Moses  attempts  to  enumerate  all  j)ossible  forms  of 
occult  practices,  when  he  warns  the  Israelites  against 
the  practices  of  the  nations  whose  land  the  Lord  had 
giv-en  them,  condemning  ''  divination,"  one  that  j)ra('- 
tiseth  augury,  or  an  "enchanter,"  or  a  "sorcerer," 
or  a  "  charmer,"  or  a  ''  consulter  with  a  familiar 
spirit,"  or  a  "  wizard,"  or  a  "  necromancer." 

In  the  forty-.seventh  chapter  of  Isaiah,  the  Israel- 
ites are  taunted  with  the  multitude  of  their  enchant- 
nu'nts  and  sorceries,  and  they  are  told  to  call  u]K)n 
"th(!  astrologers,  and  the  star-gazers,  and  monthly 
prognosticators"  to  save  them  if  they  can.     The  as- 


220  WITCHCRAFT 

trologers  in  this  passage  are  "  the  dividers  of  the 
heavens";  the  star-gazers,  "the  reviewers  of  the 
heavens";  the  monthly  prognosticators,  "those  who 
give  predictions  from  month  to  month."  The  word 
translated  "  a  consulter  with  familiar  spirits  "  is  from 
a  term  whose  literal  meaning  is  equivalent  to  that  of 
our  ordinary  word  ventriloquist,  drawn  from  the  fact 
that  such  persons  chirp,  mutter,  speak  as  one  from 
the  ground,  or  from  the  abdomen.  The  only  place 
where  the  word  "  witchcraft"  occurs  in  the  Authorized 
Version  of  the  New  Testament  is  Galatians  v,  20, 
where  among  the  works  of  the  flesh  are  named  "  idol- 
atry and  witchcraft."  Witchcraft  is  there  translated 
from  (pap|xax£ia,  signifying  "  enchanters  with  drugs." 

The  laws  of  Moses  and  the  maledictions  of  the  pro- 
phets show  an  attempt  to  prohibit,  punish,  and  ex- 
tirpate the  whole  host  of  occult  practices  of  Egj'pt, 
Babylon,  and  Media,  Persia,  Phoenicia,  and  every 
other  nation  with  which  the  Israelites  came  in  con- 
tact. The  theocratic  nature  of  the  government  of 
God  as  set  forth  by  Moses  could  not  allow  any  rival ; 
the  attempt  was  rebellion  and  treason,  the  punishment 
death. 

Against  the  conclusion  which  we  draw  that  the  at- 
tempt, and  the  attempt  only,  was  to  be  considered  in 
the  trial  of  a  case,  it  is  said,  "  How,  then,  could  an 
Israelitish  judge  decide  the  case  of  a  person  arraigned 
under  this  law?  Would  not  the  whole  issue  of  the 
case  depend  upon  the  proof  that  the  accused  really 
had  an  attendant  spirit?  And  is  not  the  law  an  ex- 
press declaration,  not  merely  of  the  possibility,  but 
also  of  the  actual  occurrence  of  such  connections?" 
Not  at  all.  Unless  the  Israelitish  judges  had  the  power 
of  supernatural  perception,  the  only  thing  that  they 
could  take  cognizance  of  would  be  the  attempt. 

Those  who  reject  this  conclusion,  if  they  would  be 


WITCHCRAFT  221 

consistent,  must  believe  all  the  forms  of  imposture 
comprehended  in  the  common  law  of  Israel  to  be 
supernatural;  they  must  believe  in  astroh)fi:y,  augury, 
and  charms;  and  that  the  heathen  gods  were  actual 
supernatural  devils.  St.  Paul  says,  "  We  know  that 
no  idol  is  anything  in  the  world";  and  though,  wIu-ti 
warning  the  people  to  flee  from  idolatry,  he  says  that 
"  the  things  which  the  Gentiles  sacrifice  they  sacrifice 
to  (lei'ih  and  not  to  God,"  it  is  a  strained  and  long- 
drawn  inference  that  he  means  to  say  that  beyond  the 
heathen  gods  there  are  real  demons  which  they  wor- 
ship. If  that  were  so  the  prophet  Jeremiah  was  him- 
self deceived,  and  deceived  the  people,  when  he  said, 
"  Be  not  afraid  of  them  [the  heathen  gods],  for  they 
cannot  do  evil,  neither  is  it  in  them  to  do  good." 


THE   WITCH   OF   ENDOR 

The  account  of  the  Witch  of  Endor  is  the  only  in- 
stance in  the  Bible  where  a  description  of  the  pro- 
cesses and  results  is  given.  Whether  any  one  ap- 
peared to  the  mtch,  and  if  so  who,  has  caused  endless 
debate.  Lange  gives  a  summary  of  the  different  views. 
The  Septuagint  and  the  Apocrypha  represent  that  it 
was  Samuel,  and  Justin  Martyr  held  the  same;  Tertul- 
lian  that  it  was  a  pythoness,  exclaiming,  '*  Far  be  it 
from  us  to  believe  that  the  soul  of  any  saint,  much  less 
a  prophet,  can  be  drawn  forth  by  a  demon";  Theo- 
doret,  Justin,  Origen,  Ambrose,  Augustine,  and  some 
Jewish  rabbis  held  that  the  ''  appearance  of  Samuel  " 
was  produced  by  God's  power;  and  Delitzsch,  Ilcng- 
stenberg,  and  other  moderns  support  it.  Luther  held 
that  it  was  *'the  Devil's  ghost";  Calvin  that  "it  was 
not  the  real  Samuel,  l)ut  a  spectre."  (Jrotius  thought 
that  it  was  a  deceptive  spirit. 


222  WITCHCRAFT 

Amid  the  conflict  I  also  will  show  ''  mine  opinion." 
Saul,  who  was  a  man  of  strong  passions,  feeble  judg- 
ment, and  little  self-control,  had  sinned,  and  God  re- 
fused to  hear  him.  With  the  I*hilistines  \asible  at  a 
distance  of  four  miles,  encamped  in  a  better  position 
than  his  own,  being  forsaken  by  God,  his  heart  sank 
within  him,  and  he  determined  to  know  the  worst. 
Taking  his  servants  into  his  confidence,  he  sought  out 
a  professed  witch,  or  necromancer.  Having  received 
an  oath  that  she  would  not  be  punished,  she  began  in 
her  usual  way.  "  Whom  shall  I  bring  up  unto  thee?" 
This  was  her  professed  business.  ^'  Bring  me  np 
Samuel!"  Immediately  afterward  the  woman  cried 
with  a  loud  voice,  and  said  to  Saul.  "Why  hast  thou 
deceived  me,  for  thou  art  Saul?"  There  is  a  strong 
presumption  that  she  would  have  known  him  under 
any  circumstances.  He  was  "head  and  shol^lders 
above  all  the  people";  his  face  must  have  been 
familiar;  his  camp  was  less  than  twelve  miles  from 
her  cave.  It  is  incredible,  in  that  small  country, 
with  Saul  ranging  over  it,  and  great  public  pro- 
cessions, that  the  witch  had  never  seen  him.  Said  he, 
"  Be  not  afraid."  She  said,"  I  see  gods  ascending  out 
of  the  earth."  "What  form  is  he  of?"  "An  old 
man  covered  with  a  mantle."  Then  Saul,  who  never 
saw  anything,  but  depended  upon  her  description, 
"perceived  that  it  was  Samuel." 

Wliat  such  women  did  in  those  times  they  are  doing 
now  in  the  East.  She  had  retired  —  her  cave,  accord- 
ing to  the  Oriental  custom,  being  divided  by  a  cur- 
tain—  and  had  been  performing  her  incantations  and 
muttering.  It  has  often  been  remarked  that  when 
such  a  giant  as  Saul  appeared  and  said,  "  Bring  me  up 
Samuel !^^  the  witch  must  have  ])een  indeed  a  foolish 
woman  not  to  susjx'ct  who  he  was  that  made  such 
a  strange  request.     Before  Samuel  is  represented  as 


WITCHCRAFT  223 

speaking  she  knew  that  her  interlocutor  was  Saul. 
Her  motive  for  pretending  not  to  know  him  at  first 
was  to  increase  her  influence  over  his  mind  —  a  com- 
mon device  of  such  performers. 

Before  the  witch  spoke  the  words  attributed  to 
Samuel,  Saul  had  given  her  all  the  facts  that  she 
needed  to  form  tlie  answer,  in  this  full  description  of 
his  situation  and  confession  of  helplessness  and  dis- 
tress: "I  am  sore  distressed,  for  the  Pliilistincs  make 
war  against  me,  and  God  is  dej)arted  from  me,  and 
answereth  me  no  more,  neither  by  prophets  nor  by 
dreams:  therefore  I  have  called  thee,  that  thou  may- 
est  make  known  unto  me  what  I  shall  do." 

The  answer  plainly  consists  of  things  which  Samuel 
had  said  while  living,  and  of  things  that  could  be  con- 
jectured from  the  situation.  It  is  not  necessary  to 
assume  that  the  woman  was  wholly  a  deceiver.  Pos- 
sibly she  believed  that  her  incantations  brought  up 
the  dead,  and  she  may  have  fallen  into  a  species 
of  trance  in  which  she  imagined  the  character  sug- 
gested by  her  applicant.  If  so,  she  would  natu- 
rally imitate  the  tone  of  the  supposed  responder,  and 
would  speak  to  a  great  degree  in  harmony  with  what 
the  character  might  be  expected  to  say  under  the 
known  circumstances.  The  narrator,  as  certain  an- 
cient Church  decrees,  according  to  Reginald  Scot, 
declare,  "set  foorth  Saule's  mind  and  Samuel's  estate 
and  certeine  things  which  were  said  and  scene,  omit- 
ting whether  they  were  true  or  false." 


TRIAL  OF   C.\SES 

Little  aid  in  the  understanding  of  the  trials  of 
witehes  in  New  England  in  KJIVJ  can  be  derived  from 
courts  as  now  conducted.     The  Honorable  William 


224  WITCHCRAFT 

Sullivan,  ia  an  address  before  the  Bar  of  Suffolk, 
Massachusetts,  in  March,  1824,  says  that  in  Massa- 
chusetts the  governor  and  assistants  were  the  only- 
depositaries  of  power,  exercising  legislative,  judicial, 
and  executive  authority.  They  inferred  from  the 
charter  the  rights  to  exercise  whatever  power  the 
welfare  of  the  community  required ;  when  that  was 
silent  the  Scriptures  were  the  resort,  the  clergy  and 
the  elders  being  the  expounders  in  all  new  emergen- 
cies. Hutchinson  says  that  for  a  number  of  years 
"  the  jury,  if  not  satisfied  with  the  opinion  of  the 
court,  were  allowed  to  consult  any  bystander."  For 
several  years  there  were  no  lawyers,  though  there 
were  a  few  attorneys,  in  the  country.  According  to 
Mr,  Sullivan,  the  importation  in  1647  of  two  copies 
each  of  several  law-books,  including  "Coke  on  Lyttle- 
ton,"  "Magna  Charta,"  and  "Coke's  Reports,"  was 
probably  the  first  introduction  of  the  common  law 
into  the  colony.  Few  or  none  of  the  judges  were  pro- 
fessional lawyers. 

On  the  8th  of  December,  1885,  the  Honorable  Wil- 
liam D.  Northend  delivered  an  address  before  the  Bar 
of  Sussex  County,  which  is  to  be  found  in  the  twenty- 
second  volume  of  the  "  Historical  Collections  of  the 
Sussex  Institute."  His  estimate  of  the  judges  is  that 
there  was  not  a  regularly  educated  lawyer  on  the  Su- 
perior Court  Bench  of  Massachusetts  until  1712,  long 
after  the  witch  trials  were  over.  At  that  time,  and 
for  many  years  afterward,  counsel  were  not  assigned 
or  allowed  in  capital  eases,  except  on  questions  of  law 
when  the  court  was  in  doubt,  the  theory  being  that 
the  judges  were  counsel  for  the  prisoner.  On  May 
14,  1692,  Sir  William  Phipps  arrived,  bringing  the 
new  charter.  He  was  a  weak  man  and  a  believer  in 
witchcraft.  One  of  the  first  of  his  official  acts  was  to 
appoint  seven  persons  of  Oyer  and  Terminer  to  try 


WITCHCRAFT  225 

the  prisoners  who  had  been  committed  under  sus- 
picion of  witchcraft  in  Essex  County. 

The  kind  of  evidence  admitted  appears  from  the 
records,  which  are  now  accessible.  One  case  may 
serve  to  illustrate  all.  Against  Rebecca  Nurse  there 
were  four  indictments.  The  first  sets  forth  that  "she 
has  afflicted  Ann  Puttnam,  Jr.,  by  certain  detestable 
arts  called  witchcraft,  and  sorceries,  wherewith  she 
has  hurt,  tortured,  afflicted,  wasted,  and  tormented."  ^ 
The  other  indictments  use  nearly  the  same  language. 

Mrs,  Nurse  was  an  aged  wcmiau  of  unspotted  repu- 
tation, and  was  more  tenderly  treated  during  a  por- 
tion of  the  time  than  any  of  the  rest.  The  jury  at 
first  acquitted  her,  but  the  judges  sent  them  out 
again,  and  practically  forced  them  to  bring  in  a  ver- 
dict of  guilty,  notwithstanding  Mrs.  Nurse's  assertion 
that  she  had  failed  to  answer  a  question  (which  fail- 
ure was  used  against  her)  because,  being  deaf,  she 
did  not  hear  it.  The  judges  appeared  to  be  convinced 
of  the  guilt  of  all  from  the  time  the  afflicted  declared 
them  guilty,  and  badgered  prisoners  in  a  manner 
almost  incredible.  Most  of  the  examinations  were 
written  down  by  the  Rev.  Samuel  Parris;  one  of  the 
strongest  proofs  of  the  utter  blindness  of  the  times 
being  the  frank  and  unequivocal  manner  in  which 
the  record  is  prepared. 

The  prejudices  of  the  judges  and  the  spirit  in  which 
they  dealt  with  the  defendants  appear  from  the  account 
of  the  examination  of  Elizabeth  Cary,  of  Charlestown, 
given  by  her  husT)an(l,  a  shipmaster. 

His  wife,  beinp  conscious  of  innocence,  went  to  the  churcli. 
The  ^rls  came  in,  fell  in  fits,  and  cried  out,  "Cary!  Cary!" 
Mrs.  Cary  had  never  seen  nor  heard  of  one  of  tlieni  in  her  life. 

1  From  the  "Records  of  Salera  Witchcraft."  copied  from  the 
ori^nal  documents,  and  privately  printed  for  W.  Elliott  Wood- 
ward.    Volume  I. 


226  WITCHCRAFT 

As  at  every  motion  of  the  defendant  the  afflicted  made  the 
same,  Mrs.  Gary  was  ordered  to  stand  with  her  arras  stretched 
out.  Mr.  Gary  says,  "I  requested  that  I  might  hold  one  of  her 
hands,  but  it  was  denied  me ;  then  she  desired  me  to  wipe  the 
tears  from  her  eyes  and  the  sweat  from  her  face,  wliich  I  did ; 
then  she  desired  that  she  might  lean  herself  on  me,  saying  she 
should  faint.  Justice  Hathorne  replied, '  She  had  strength  enough 
to  torment  these  persons,  and  she  should  have  strength  enough 
to  stand.'  I  speaking  something  against  their  cruel  proceedings, 
they  commanded  me  to  be  silent  or  else  I  should  be  turned  out 
of  the  room." 

Mrs.  Gary  was  committed,  but  escaped  from  jail, 
went  to  Rhode  Island,  and  finally  to  New  York,  where 
the  governor  of  the  State  interested  himself  in  her 
and  protected  her.  Captain  Gary,  after  describing 
her  sufferings,  says :  "  To  speak  of  their  usage  of  the 
prisoners,  and  the  inhumanity  shown  to  them  at  the 
time  of  their  execution,  no  sober  Christian  could  bear." 

No  testimony  as  to  previous  good  conduct  and  char- 
acter availed  anything.  This  may  be  illustrated  by 
the  case  of  a  woman  of  whom  the  Rev.  William  Hub- 
bard, one  of  the  most  honored  ministers  in  New 
England,  characterized  by  Hutchinson  as  "  a  man  of 
learning,  and  a  logical  and  benevolent  mind,  accom- 
panied with  a  good  degree  of  Catholicism,"  certifies : 

I  have  known  the  wife  of  William  Buckley  of  Salera  Village 
.  .  .  ever  since  she  was  brought  out  of  England,  which  is 
above  fifty  years  ago.  .  .  .  She  was  bred  by  Christian  parents, 
.  .  .  was  admitted  as  a  member  into  the  Church  at  Ipswich 
[of  which  he  was  the  pastor]  above  forty  years  since.  I  never 
heard  from  others,  or  observed  by  myself,  anythiiig  of  her 
which  was  inconsistent  with  her  profession,  or  unsuitable  to 
Christianity. 

But  on  evidence  similar  to  that  which  convicted  the 
others,  and  mostly  from  the  same  witnesses,  she  was 
hurried  off  to  prison. 

John  Proctor  went  with  his  wife  to  support  her 
under  the  charges;  the  "afflicted"  cried  out  against 


WITCHCRAFT  227 

him,  and  though  many  of  the  citizens  testified  to  his 
good  character,  as  well  as  to  hers,  he  was  executed. 
But  the  children  cried  out  that  they  could  see  '*  his 
shape  afflicting  them." 

Against  George  Burroughs,  a  graduate  of  Harvard 
College  and  former  minister  of  Salem,  the  principal 
evidence  was  that  though  a  puny  man  he  was  remark- 
ably strong  physically;  that  he  made  nothing  of  carry- 
ing barrels  of  sugar,  flour,  etc.,  from  one  place  to 
another,  and  tluit  he  could  hold  a  gun  straight  out  at 
arm's-length  by  taking  hold  of  the  end  of  the  stock ; 
that  his  wife  told  some  one  that  he  said  ''he  knew  all 
secrets,  and  made  her  promise  to  reveal  none  of  his"; 
and  that  he  accused  his  brother-in-law  and  his  wife  of 
talking  about  him  on  one  occasion. 

In  his  address  Judge  Northend  remarks, ''  No  better 
illustration  can  be  given  of  the  fallacy  of  the  views  of 
those  who  look  upon  legal  rules  as  only  a  clog  and 
hindrance  in  the  administration  of  justice.  Under 
the  rules  of  laws  now  fully  established,  none  of  the 
evidence  upon  which  the  convictions  were  found  would 
be  admitted;  spectral  and  kindred  evidence  could  not 
be  allowed,  and  without  it  not  one  of  the  accused  could 
have  been  convicted." 


EXPL.\NATION   OF   CONFESSIONS 

Many  persons  acknowledged  tliemselves  witches, 
both  in  Europe  and  America,  and  gave  detailed  ac- 
counts of  their  interviews  with  the  devil.  This  has 
led  various  writers  to  suppose  that  witchcraft  has  an 
objective  reality;  and  certainly  the  problem  is  com- 
plicated by  the  fact  that  some  wlio  confessed  were 
persons  <jf  undoubted  piety.  Yet  it  is  not  dinicult  of 
explanation. 


228  WITCHCRAI'T 

Iq  Europe  tortures  the  most  terrible  were  inflicted 
to  compel  confession.  In  "  Superstition  and  Force," 
Mr.  Henry  C.  Lea  quotes  Rickens,  a  magistrate  dur- 
ing an  epidemic  of  witchcraft  at  the  close  of  the 
seventeenth  century,  as  complaining  that  no  reliance 
could  be  placed  on  legal  witnesses  to  procure  convic- 
tion. Del  Rio  avers  that  torture  is  to  be  more  readily 
resorted  to  in  witchcraft  than  in  other  crimes,  in  con- 
sequence of  the  extreme  difficulti/  of  its  proof.  This, 
Mr.  Lea  says,  was  the  common  opinion  of  the  time. 
Coustantine  issued  a  decree  a.  d.  358  that  no  dignity 
of  birth  or  station  should  protect  those  accused  of 
sorcery  or  magic  from  the  severest  apj^lication  of 
torture.  Old  German  records  are  full  of  accounts 
of  men  and  women  yielding  and  confessing,  usually 
in  language  put  into  their  mouths  by  the  inquisitors. 

In  New  England  none  of  those  who  confessed  them- 
selves to  be  witches  were  executed,  and  every  effort  was 
made  to  induce  them  to  do  so.  If  any  one  confessed 
to  being  a  witch,  and  afterward,  driven  by  conscience, 
retracted,  he  was  certain  to  be  executed.  This  was 
the  case  with  Samuel  Wardwell,  who  confessed,  re- 
tracted his  confession,  and  died  upon  the  gallows 
protesting  his  innocence. 

But  why  did  some  religions  and  spiritually  minded 
persons  confess "?  Because  they  were  saturated  with 
erroneous  views  of  the  power  of  the  devil,  and  his 
mode  of  exercising  it.  They  believed  that  he  was 
very  near  them  all  the  time,  endeavoring  to  effect  an 
entrance;  and  when  they  were  accused,  saw  "the  af- 
flicted," and  realized  that  the  magistrates  and  min- 
isters thought  they  were  guilty,  their  minds  being 
weakened  l)y  the  terrible  pressure  upon  them,  they 
came  to  the  conclusion  that  in  some  unguarded  mo- 
ment the  devil  had  gained  an  advantage  over  them ; 
and  that,  though  "  they  were  unconscious  of  having 


WITCHCRAFT  229 

done  such  things,  their  spirits  must  have  committed 
them,"  and  they  therefore  confessed. 

Many  thousands  of  persons  in  former  centuries 
concluded  in  the  same  manner  that  they  had  com- 
mitted "  the  unpardonable  sin  " ;  while  of  these  very 
few  had  any  clear  idea  of  what  the  sin  is.  The  pres- 
sure of  the  doctrinal  beliefs  of  the  age  upon  morbid 
conscientiousness,  with  a  natural  distrust,  antagonized 
all  the  promises  of  the  Gospel,  and  they  despaired. 

Many  abandoned  persons  who  believed  in  witchcraft 
and  sought  to  obtain  the  power  could  easily  find  coin- 
cidences seeming  to  prove  the  truth  of  their  claims, 
and  in  this  way  thought  themselves  to  be  wizards 
and  witches. 

EXPLANATION  OF  PHENOMENA 

In  the  progress  of  science  principles  have  been 
established  and  illustrative  facts  accumulated  whereby 
the  greater  part  of  the  authentic  phenomena  can  be 
fully  explained.  There  was  a  large  amount  of  fraud 
and  jugglery.  Dr.  Hutchinson  of  England,  the  second 
edition  of  whose  work  appeared  in  1720,  has  a  chapter 
on  "  Seven  Notorious  Impostures  Detected." 

Seventy-eight  years  after  the  Salem  witchcrafts,  at 
Littleton,  Middlesex  County,  Massachusetts,  a  case 
involving  three  children  whose  performances  were 
fully  as  remarkable  and  mysterious  as  those  of  the 
Goodwin  cliildren  attracted  great  attention.  But 
several  years  later  the  oldest  girl  offered  hci-self  as  a 
candidate  at  the  Rev.  Mr.  Terrell's  church  in  Med- 
ford.  "  Iler  experience  was  considered  satisfactory, 
but  the  minister  chancing  to  preach  against  //>//•.«.'' 
(though  he  had  not  the  least  idea  that  she  was  an 
impostor),  his  sermon  so  powerfully  affected  her  that 
she  went  to  him  and  confessed  the  whole  imposture, 
20 


230  WITCHCRAFT 

and  showed  how  her  sisters  were  drawn  into  it,  "  by- 
love  of  mischief,  imitation,  vanity,  and  necessity  of 
going  on  after  they  had  begun."  In  the  case  of  ''  the 
afflicted  girls  "  of  New  England  there  is  positive  evi- 
dence that  some  were  consciously  and  intentionally 
performing  a  part. 

If  those  who  were  not  intentional  deceivers  believed 
that  they  were  afflicted  by  the  accused,  their  evidence 
and  actions  become  simple.  If  the  accused  moved 
her  head,  they  would  move  theirs  automatically. 
Hypnotic  performances,  now  well  known,  furnish  a 
perfect  analogy.  Every  hypnotizer  has  to  be  con- 
stantly on  his  guard  lest  all  with  whom  he  is  experi- 
menting should  do  whatever  is  done  by  one.  That 
this  is  an  adequate  explanation  appears  from  the  fact 
that  in  those  parts  of  the  world  where  witchcraft  is 
still  believed  in,  and  where  a  scientific  knowledge  of 
epidemic  hysteria  and  of  hypnotism  does  not  exist, 
such  attacks  are  believed  to  be  produced  by  witchcraft. 

The  "London  Medical  Record"  has  recently  pub- 
lished an  article  quoted  from  an  Italian  medical 
journal,  giving  an  account  of  an  epidemic  of  hysteria 
among  the  peasants  of  Albania.  The  priests  had 
tried  to  exorcise  the  evil  spirits,  but  without  success. 
Fourteen  girls  under  twenty  years  of  age,  one  boy  of 
eleven,  a  woman  of  fifty,  and  a  robust  peasant  of 
nineteen  were  carefully  studied.  The  muscles  of  the 
face  and  neck  became  rigid,  and  afterward  those  of 
the  limbs.  The  woman  went  through  the  most  violent 
contortions  and  muscular  motions,  beating  her  chest 
with  her  hands  and  then  falling  motionless.  This 
was  sometimes  repeated  again  and  again.  She  said 
that  during  the  attacks  she  ''saw  the  figure  of  the 
woman  who  bewitched  her."  The  origin  and  history 
of  the  case  are  here  given  in  brief : 

A  band  of  seventy  girls  had  agreed  to  work  for  an  old  woman 
in  rice-fields.     Thinking  that  they  could  make  a  better  bargain, 


WITCHCRAFT  231 

they  broke  their  engagement.  The  old  woman  was  angry,  and 
a3  she  was  generally  supposed  to  possess  the  power  of  witch- 
craft, the  girls  were  constantly  in  dread  of  being  bewitc-hi-d. 
As  they  worked  eleven  hours  a  day,  standing  in  water  in  the 
hot  sun,  living  chiefly  on  unsalable  beans,  bad  bacon,  and  de- 
caying rice,  they  were  reduced  "to  a  state  of  very  unstable 
mental  equilibrium,  which  was  completely  upset  by  seeing  the 
hystero-epileptic  fits  of  the  first  patient."  The  medical  men 
sent  them  ofif  to  their  own  homes,  thus  isolating  them,  and  they 
were  speedily  cured. 

The  imitative  principle  in  such  cases  sometimes  goes 
so  far  that  what  one  thinks  he  sees  hundreds  will 
think  they  see;  what  one  does  scores  and  hundreds 
will  do.  The  precise  manner  of  dissemination  of  the 
dominant  idea  is  weD  known. 

Testimony  to  marvels  of  a  different  kind  is  occa- 
sionally introduced,  such  as  mysterious  noises,  the 
fastening  of  doors,  overtlirowing  of  chairs,  tables, 
crockery,  the  extinguishing  of  lights  without  apparent 
cause,  the  entrance  of  hogs  and  other  animals  into  a 
house,  the  appearance  of  lights  the  origin  of  which  is 
not  understood.  A  ease  of  this  kind  occurred  in  New 
England  in  1680,  and  was  before  the  courts  at  I])s- 
wich.  William  Morse  and  his  wife,  with  whom  in  the 
house  no  one  but  a  grandson  lived,  were  disturbed  by 
such  occurrences.  A  neighbor,  Caleb  Powell,  looked 
into  the  matter,  and  declared  that  the  boy  j)layed  the 
tricks;  and  that  he  had  seen  him  fling  things  at  his 
grandfather's  head  while  the  old  gentleman  was  at 
prayer.  But  the  mere  attemi)t  to  explain  the  mys- 
tery nearly  cost  Caleb  Powell  his  life,  for  he  was  ar- 
rested on  suspicion  of  witchcraft,  and  many  witnesses 
were  brought  to  swear  that  he  said  that  by  astronomy 
and  astrology  he  could  find  out,  as  he  *'  knew  the  work- 
ing of  spirits,  some  in  one  country  and  some  in  an- 
other." Little  investigation  <!Ould  take  ])la(*e  in  any 
country  where  the  investigator  was  liable  to  be  accuse<l 
of  witclu-raft  and  to  lose  his  life*  for  denying  its  reality. 


232  WITCHCRAFT 

Scientific  investigation,  with  the  meaning  which  is 
now  given  to  these  words,  was  never  applied  to  the 
phenomena.  Drake  does  not  exaggerate  when  he 
declares  that,  daring  the  period,  "if  anything  oc- 
curred, the  origin  or  reason  of  which  was  neither  un- 
derstood nor  comprehended,  and  appeared  stranger 
than  usual,  the  mind  instead  of  investigating  fell  back 
upon  the  ever-ready  and  easy  solution  that  such  was 
caused  by  witchcraft."  There  were  a  few  doubters; 
but  they  seldom  obtained  access  to  primary  sources 
of  information,  and  when  they  did  were  denounced 
as  "  Sadducees,"  "  defenders  of  witches,''  or  "  agents 
of  the  devil."  So  strong  was  this  influence  that  cer- 
tain clergymen  who  plainly  did  not  approve  the  pro- 
ceedings, were  compelled  to  reaffirm  continually  their 
belief  in  witchcraft,  and  to  protest  against  being 
considered  defenders  of  witches.  If  persons  became 
aggressive  in  the  defense  of  the  accused  they  were 
cried  out  upon  by  the  accusers,  and  a  mortal  terror 
of  the  consequences  led  many  to  avoid  being  present 
at  the  investigation. 

Electricity,  magnetism,  and  the  action  of  gases,  as 
well  as  meteorological  phenomena,  were  imperfectly 
understood  in  the  times  of  the  epidemic  of  witchcraft. 
Many  mysteries  then  inscrutable  could  now  be  easily 
explained.  The  science  of  bacteriology,  a  discovery 
of  the  present  generation,  illustrates  many  of  the 
facts  which,  being  misunderstood,  were  supposed  to 
indicate  the  presence  of  the  devil,  and  to  be  the  re- 
sults of  witchcraft.  Dr.  Prudden's  '^  Story  of  the 
Bacteria,  and  their  Relations  to  Health  and  Disease  " 
gives  many  instances,  and  a  circumstance  easily  ex- 
plained recently  occurred  which  two  hundred  years 
ago  might  have  been  the  means  of  the  death  of  many. 
Some  time  since  there  was  brought  to  the  physiologi- 
cal and  pathological  laboratory  of  the  Alumni  Asso- 


WITCHCRAFT  233 

elation  of  the  College  of  Physicians  and  Surgeons  of 
the  City  of  New  York,  for  examination,  "  a  cluster  of 
sausages  whicli  had  been  destined  to  grace  a  board- 
iug-house  breakfast-table.  To  the  consternation  of 
the  maid  who  went  into  the  dark  cellar  for  them  in 
the  early  morning,  there  hung  in  the  place  of  the 
sausages  a  fiery  effigy,  whicli  seemed  to  her  more  like 
the  quondam  spirits  of  their  mysterious  ingredients 
than  the  unctuous,  homely  friend  of  the  homeless 
boarder,"  The  microscope  revealed  at  once  the  bac- 
teria which  produced  the  effect. 


REACTION  FROM  THE  FRENZY 

A  DEEP  conviction  of  the  fallil)ility  of  spectral  evi- 
dence arose  in  the  minds  of  many.  The  recollection 
of  the  characters  and  good  deeds  of  several  who  had 
been  executed,  of  their  dying  protestations  of  inno- 
cence, and  their  religious  bearing  at  the  ])lace  of  exe- 
cution, and  the  recognition  of  the  fact  that  if  they  had 
confessed  they  might  have  saved  their  lives,  were 
powerful  causes  of  the  reaction. 

But  there  were  two  others  of  still  greater  influence. 
The  '*  afflicted  "  began  to  accuse  persons  of  such  high 
standing  that  the  community  instinctively  felt  tliat 
the  charge  was  false.  The  Rev.  Mr.  Hale  of  Beverly 
had  supported  the  i)rosecutions;  but  when  his  own 
wife  was  accused,  he  saw  that  they  were  going  too 
far,  and  turned  against  them.  Her  case  was  but  one 
of  several:  spiritual,  devout,  and  consistent,  she  was 
not  better  than  some  of  those  to  whose  condemnation 
and  ex(>cution  her  husband  had  (M)ns('nted,  u])on  evi- 
dence similar  in  nil  points  to  that  alleged  against  her. 
But  they  were  without  such  social  relations  as  could 
effectuallv  stem  the  tide,  and  were  accused  before  a 


234  WITCHCRAFT 

suspicion  of  the  trustworthiness  of  the  evidence  had 
been  engendered. 

The  other  cause  was  the  retraction  of  the  confessions. 
In  all  fifty-five  confessed.  Some  of  them  retracted, 
though  they  knew  it  would  be  certain  death.  Such 
was  the  case  of  Samuel  Wardwell,  who  was  executed 
protesting  his  innocence.  Margaret  Jacobs,  who  had 
testified  against  her  grandfather  in  her  confession, 
was  so  overwhelmed  with  grief  and  shame  when  she 
came  to  herself  that  she  took  it  back,  and  addressed 
the  court,  saying : 

They  told  me  if  I  would  not  confess  I  should  be  put  down  into 
the  dungeon,  and  would  be  hanged ;  but  if  I  would  confess  I 
should  have  my  life  ;  the  which  did  so  affright  me  with  my  own 
vile,  wicked  heart,  to  save  my  life,  made  me  make  the  like  con- 
fession, I  did,  which  confession,  may  it  please  the  honored  Court, 
is  altogether  false  and  untrue.  The  very  first  night  after  I  had 
made  confession  I  was  in  such  liorror  of  conscience  that  I  could 
not  sleep  for  fear  the  Devil  should  carry  me  away  for  telling 
such  horrid  lies. 

The  entire  confession  is  one  of  the  most  touching 
compositions  in  literature.  She  was  afterward  tried 
and  condemned  to  death,  but  escaped  because  her 
case  was  not  disposed  of  until  after  the  reaction. 

Six  of  the  women  of  Andover  who  had  confessed 
signed  a  declaration  retracting,  and  fifty  of  the  inhabi- 
tants of  that  to^^^l  testified  to  their  good  character. 
They  say  that  their  nearest  and  dearest  relations  told 
them  that  there  was  no  hope  of  saving  their  lives 
but  by  confessing  themselves  to  be  witches  ;  that  the 
confession  which  they  made  was  suggested  by  some 
gentlemen, 

they  telling  us  that  we  were  witches  and  they  knew  it,  and  we 
knew  it,  which  made  us  think  that  it  was  so;  and  our  under- 
standing, our  reason,  our  faculties  almost  gone,  we  were  not 
capable  of  judging  of  our  condition.  .  .  .  And  most  of  what  we 


WITCHCRAFT  235 

said  was  but,  in  fact,  consenting  to  what  thoy  said.  Some  time 
after  when  we  were  better  composed,  they  telling  us  what  we 
had  confessed,  we  did  profess  that  wo  were  innocent  and  igno- 
rant of  such  things ;  and  wo  learning  that  Samuel  Wanhvell  had 
renounced  his  confession  and  was  quickly  after  condemned  and 
executed,  some  of  us  were  told  we  were  going  after  Wanlwdl. 

Aiidover  was  ''  the  first  to  recover  its  senses'';  juries 
began  to  acquit ;  the  j^overnor  of  the  State  issued  a 
proclamation  openinji:  the  prisons,  and  a  jj:eneral  fast 
was  ordered.  The  jurors  who  had  convicted  the  ac- 
cused signed  and  circulated  a  document  confessing 
that,  "  for  want  of  knowledge  in  themselves  and  bet- 
ter information  from  others,  they  had  taken  nj)  with 
evidence  which  on  further  consideration  and  better 
information  they  believed  was  insufficient  for  touch- 
ing the  lives  of  any";  and  they  "humbly  asked  for- 
giveness of  all  and  the  surviving  sufferers  in  special," 
and  declared  that  '^ according  to  our  present  7)iin(h  ire 
iroidd  none  of  us  do  such  thiugs  again  on  such  grounds 
for  the  whole  world." 

In  1G97  the  Rev.  Mr.  Hale  wrote  a  book  to  show  that 
the  proceedings  were  erroneous.  Memorials  were  sent 
and  the  ministers  of  the  County  of  Essex  presented 
an  address  to  the  Genei'al  Court  under  date  of  Jidy  8, 
1703,  expressing  their  belief  that  innocent  persons 
had  suffered;  and  finally  the  (xcneral  Court,  October 
17, 1711,  only  nineteen  years  after  the  executions,  and 
while  the  majority  of  the  people  were  still  living, 
reversed  "  the  attainders  of  George  Burroughs  and 
others  for  witchcraft."  This  act  declares  that  ''some 
of  the  principal  accusers  and  witnes.ses  in  these  dark 
and  severe  persecutions  have  since  discovered  them- 
selves to  be  persons  of  profligate  and  vicious  conver- 
sation," and  reversed  th(*  convictions,  judgments,  and 
attainders  against  all  that  died.  The  (ieneral  Coui't 
reimbursed  sui'vivors  and  tlieir  lieirs  for  expenses  in- 


236  WITCHCRAFT 

ciirred.  The  petitions  of  such  heirs,  duly  approved 
aud  admitted,  are  found  in  Woodward's  "Records  of 
Salem  Witchcraft,"  and  are  valuable  as  testimony  to 
the  characters  of  the  accused,  apart  from  the  impos- 
sible crime  with  which  they  were  charged. 

Judge  Sewall,  on  the  day  of  the  general  fast,  arose 
in  the  old  South  Church  in  Boston  and  sent  up  to  the 
pulpit  a  written  confession  of  his  error.  This  scene 
Whittier  describes  in  the  lines  beginning,  "Touching 
and  sad  a  tale  is  told."  To  the  day  of  his  death  this 
conscientious  man  set  apart  one  day  of  every  year  for 
humiliation  and  prayer  on  account  of  the  part  he  had 
taken. 

The  clergy  of  Salem  and  vicinity  in  the  beginning 
fostered  the  delusion.  Mr.  Parris  and  Mr.  Noyes,  es- 
pecially the  former,  must  be  classed  with  those  repre- 
sentatives of  any  religion,  true  or  false,  who  will  stop 
at  nothing  to  destroy  those  whose  orthodoxy  they 
doubt,  or  whose  persons  or  characters  they  dislike. 

There  is  evidence  that  many  of  the  clergy  of  Massa- 
chusetts disapproved  the  proceedings,  but  because  of 
the  sentiments  of  the  ruling  civil  authorities  of  Massa- 
chusetts were  not  able  to  exert  a  restraining  influence. 
In  a  petition  drawn  up  by  the  opponents  of  Mr.  Parris 
in  Salem  Village,  they  say  that  the  reason  they  would 
not  hold  communion  with  him  is  "his  declared  and 
published  sentiments  referring  to  our  molestations 
from  the  invisible  world :  differing  from  the  opinion 
of  the  general  if  1/  of  orthodox  ministers  of  this  whole 
countrtjP    Tliis  was  under  date  of  April  21,  1G93. 

The  terrible  consequences  of  the  belief  forced  the 
issue  upon  mind  and  heart;  common  sense  and  com- 
mon humanity  reasserted  themselves.  The  horrid 
fiction  was  east  off;  some  denying  the  reality  of 
witch(;raft,  others  admitting  it  ])()ssible  in  the  ahstr(t<t, 
but  affirming  that  it  was  impossible  to  prove  it.  As 
soon  as  the  prosecutions  ceased  there  was  no  further 


WITCHCRAFT  237 

trouble.  The  traDsactions  in  Xew  England  exerted 
a  weighty  influence  on  the  other  side  of  the  Athintic 
agiiiust  witchcraft,  and  in  1736  the  English  statute 
was  repealed. 

The  investigation  justifies  the  conclusion  that 
where  witchcraft  is  not  believed  in  there  are  no  cases 
of  it;  where  it  is  believed  there  are  nuiny,  and  in 
proportion  to  the  intensity  of  the  belief.  It  must  be 
remembered  that  m.!dical  men  g«'neraily  were  igno- 
rant and  superstitious,  and  the  scientific  practice  of 
the  healing  art  unknown.  The  ])ress  did  not  exist ; 
there  was  no  opportunity  for  the  kind  of  investigation 
now  made  by  reporters,  for  the  free  utterance  of  ad- 
verse opinion,  or  for  any  proper  or  generally  circu- 
lated report  of  trials.  If  most  of  the  clergy  of  this 
country  believed  in  witchcraft,  they  could  find  an 
abundance  of  the  kind  of  evidence  that  was  admitted 
in  1692 ;  and  were  there  no  press,  free,  active,  and 
intelligent,  it  would  be  possible  in  a  few  weeks  to 
originate  an  epidemic  which  would  parallel  any  in 
the  past. 

Tiie  crucifixion  of  Christ,  the  cruelties  of  the  In- 
quisition, the  burning  of  Servetus,  the  atrocities  of 
the  first  French  Revolution,  the  hanging  of  watches 
and  Quakers,  are  but  manifestations  of  the  possible 
excesses  of  human  nature  when  governed  by  false 
and  deeply  root(!d  ideas,  when  strong  passions  are 
excited,  and  no  adequate  force,  either  of  authority  or 
of  puljlic  opinion,  restrains. 

The  solemn  words  of  Longfellow  are  true  of  New 
England's  part  in  the  universal  tragedy : 

Bo  not  too  swift  in  casting  the  first  stone, 
Nor  think  New  Eiijfjland  hears  llie  puilt  alone; 
This  sudden  burst  of  wielvcdness  and  rrime 
Was  hut  tlio  f'f)niinon  ina<lni'ss  of  tlie  time. 
Wiien  in  all  lands  that  lif  liencath  the  sound 
Of  Sabbath  bells  a  witcli  was  ])urnfd  or  drowned. 


238  WITCHCRAFT 

Had  not  mankind  as  a  whole  been  stronger  than 
any  of  its  passions,  the  race  would  long  since  have 
annihilated  itself.  Superstition  and  barbarism, though 
ostensibly  expelled  by  modern  civilization,  lurk  in  the 
shadows  stealthily  seeking  an  entrance;  and  the  united 
forces  of  reason,  science,  religion,  law,  self-interest, 
freedom  of  speech  and  of  the  press,  with  "  eternal 
vigilance,''  are  needed  to  prevent  them  from  regaining 
a  direful  ascendancy. 


CHRISTIAN  SCIENCE"  AND  ''MIND  CURE" 


THIRTY  years  ago  the  phrases  Christian  Science 
and  Mind  Cure,  in  the  sense  now  attached  to 
them,  were  unknown ;  to-day  in  the  press,  in  conver- 
sation, in  literature,  and  especially  in  discussions  re- 
lating to  health  and  disease,  and  to  the  more  occult 
phenomena  of  human  nature,  they  frequently  occur. 
To  many  they  have  no  definite  meaning,  and  long  con- 
versations are  carried  on  concerning  them  in  which 
the  most  diverse  views  are  maintained,  ending  in  con- 
fusion and  contradiction,  because  those  who  converse 
have  not  a  uniform  conception  of  the  signification  of 
the  terms.  Some  declare  Christian  Science  and  Mind 
Cure  to  be  the  same;  others  stoutly  deny  this,  and 
seek  to  establish  a  radical  distinction.  Some  repre- 
sent Christian  Science  as  a  great  advance  upon  ordi- 
nary Christianity ;  others  denounce  it  as  but  refined 
Pantheism ;  while  many  more  brand  both  Christian 
Science  and  I\Iind  Cui-e  as  delusion,  a  reaction  from 
the  uncompromising  materialism  of  the  age. 

Mrs.  Mary  Baker  Glover  Eddy,  President  of  the 
Massachusetts  Metaphysical  College,  claims  to  have 
been  the  first  to  use  the  i)hrase  ''Christian  Science." 

It  was  in  Massachusetts,  in  tho  year  IHGO.  tliat  I  (liscovcml 
the  Science  of  Metaphysical  Ilealiiifr,  which  I  atttTwards  iianud 
Christian  Science.     The  discovery  camo  to  pass  in  this  way. 

U39  ' 


240       ''CHRISTIAN  SCIENCE"  AND   "MIND  CURE" 

During  twenty  years  prior  to  my  discovery  I  had  been  trying  to 
trace  all  physical  effects  to  a  mental  cause ;  and  in  January  of 
1866  I  gained  the  scientific  certainty  that  all  causation  was 
Mind,  and  every  effect  a  mental  phenomenon. 


Mrs.  Eddy  further  states  that  about  the  year  1862 
her  health  was  failing  rapidly,  and  she  "employed  a 
distinguished  mesmerist,  Mr.  P.  P.  Quimby  —  a  sen- 
sible, elderly  gentleman,  with  some  advanced  views 
about  healing.  .  ,  .  There  were  no  Metaphysical  Heal- 
ers then.  The  Science  of  Mental  Healing  had  not 
been  discovered." 

Whether  or  not  Mrs.  Eddy  is  indebted  for  her  ideas 
to  Mr.  Quimby  has  since  been  the  subject  of  heated 
discussion  ;  for  the  short  time  which  has  elapsed  since 
the  "discovery  "has  been  long  enough  for  the  develop- 
ment of  several  rival  schools,  which  have  engendered 
toward  one  another  as  much  intensity  of  feeling  as 
the  odium  theologicum  and  odium  medicum  combined. 
Speaking  of  her  rivals,  Mrs.  Eddy  modestly  observes: 
"  Some  silly  publications,  whose  only  correct  or  salient 
points  are  borrowed,  without  credit,  from  '  Science  and 
Health,'  would  set  the  world  right  on  Metaphysical 
Healing,  like  children  thrumming  a  piano  and  pre- 
tending to  teach  music  or  criticise  Mozart." 

The  history  of  the  discovery  is  of  sufficient  impor- 
tance to  be  given.  "  The  cowardly  claim  that  I  am 
not  the  originator  of  my  own  writings,  but  that  one 
P.  P.  Quimby  is,  has  been  legally  nu't  and  punished. 
.  .  .  Mr.  Quimby  died  in  1865,  and  my  first  knowledge 
of  Christian  Science,  or  Metaphysical  Healing,  was 
gained  in  1866.  .  .  .  When  he  doctored  me  I  was  ig- 
norant of  the  nature  of  mesmerism,  but  subsequent 
knowledge  has  convinced  me  that  he  i)racticed  it." 
Mrs.  Eddy  snys  that  after  having  been  for  many  years 
a  sufferer  from  chronic  diseases,  she  met  with  an  acci- 


"CHRISTIAN  SCIENCE"  AND  "MIND  CURE"      241 

dent  which  produced,  according  to  physicians,  a  fatal 
injurj'.  They  gave  her  up  to  die,  and  dechired  that 
she  would  not  live  till  noon.  She  replied  that  slie 
would  be  well  at  that  time.  Her  pastor  called  after 
service  and  found  her  busy  about  the  house.  One  of 
her  assistants  says  that  ''while  she  knew  that  she  was 
healed  by  the  direct  and  gracious  exercise  of  the  di- 
\ane  power,  she  was  indisposed  to  make  an  old-time 
miracle  of  it." 

After  three  years'  meditation  she  concluded  that 
her  recovery  was  in  accordance  with  general  spiritual 
laws,  capable  of  being  known  and  clearly  stated.  She 
then  began  to  teach  and  write ;  though  prior  to  the 
expiration  of  the  three  years,  namely,  in  18G7,  she 
taught  a  purely  metaphysical  system  of  healing  to,  as 
she  says,  **the  very  first  student  who  was  ever  so  in- 
structed since  the  days  of  the  Apostles  and  the  primi- 
tive Church."  Her  essays  were  circulated  among  her 
students  privately.  In  1870  she  copyrighted  her  first 
pamphlet,  but  did  not  publish  it  till  six  years  after- 
ward. 

In  1876  she  organized  the  Christian  Scientist  Asso- 
ciation, and  in  1879,  at  a  meeting  of  that  association, 
she  organized  a  Church,  ''a  Mind  Healing  Church, 
without  creeds,  called  the  Church  of  Christ."  To  the 
pastorate  of  this  she  accepted  a  call,  and  was  ordained 
in  Boston,  1881.  The  college  flourishes,  the  church 
has  an  assistant  pastor,  and  Mrs.  Eddy  receives  so 
much  patronage  as  a  teacher  as  to  compel  the  publi- 
cation of  the  following: 

The  authoress  takes  no  patients,  and  lias  no  time  for  medical 
consultation. 

Practitioners,  who  of  course  are   not  obliged  to 
waste  much  time  upon  such  sordid  things  as  aiiat- 
21 


242       "CHEISTIAN  SCIENCE"  AND   "MIND  CURE" 

oiny,  physiology,  or  materia  medica,  are  prepared 
with,  unusual  rapidity.  The  primary  class  in  Chris- 
tian Science  Mind  Healing  includes  twelve  lessons. 
In  the  first  week  six  of  these  are  given.  The  term 
continues  only  about  three  weeks,  and  the  charge  for 
tuition  is  $300.  The  normal  class  requires  six  lec- 
tures. Graduates  from  the  primary  class  are  advised 
to  practise  at  least  one  year  before  entering  this  class, 
and  for  these  six  lectures  they  must  pay  $200.  There 
is  also  a  class  of  Metaphysical  Obstetrics  which  re- 
quires only  six  lectures,  for  which  $100  must  be  paid. 
In  addition  to  these  there  is  a  class  in  Theology,  in- 
cluding six  lectures  on  the  Scriptures,  for  which 
$200  must  be  paid.  The  largest  discount  to  an  indi- 
gent student  is  $100  on  the  first  course.  Husbands 
and  wives,  if  they  enter  together  the  primary  class, 
may  pay  $300 ;  but,  entering  at  different  times,  must 
pay  the  regular  price,  and  must  do  that  for  all  other 
courses,  payment  being  made  strictly  in  advance.  It 
is  obvious  therefore,  that  the  benefits  of  the  Mind 
Cure  cannot  be  applied  to  commercial  transactions; 
and  that  800  material  dollars,  exclusive  of  board,  are 
required  to  master  the  Science  of  Metaphysical  Heal- 
ing,— unless  one  were  to  say  that  national  bank  notes 
are  merely  material  symbols  of  an  immaterial  and 
impalpable  essence. 

Considering  the  short  time  that  has  elapsed  since 
the  ^'  discovery,"  the  number  of  practitioners,  as  ad- 
vertised in  one  of  their  magazines,  is  very  large. 
Sixty-six  are  women,  and  twenty-nine  men ;  and  all 
but  five  of  the  men  appear  to  be  associated  with  their 
wives  in  the  practice  of  the  profession.  There  are 
also  Christian  Science  institutes  and  colleges  adver- 
tised :  two  in  New  York,  four  in  Chicago,  one  in 
Milwaukee,  one  in  Brooklyn,  and  one  in  Colorado. 
The  other  institutions  do  not  charge  so  larcfe  a  sum 


"CHRISTIAN  SCIENCE"  AND   "MIND  CURE"       243 

as  Mrs.  Eddy.  Some  of  thoiu  agree  to  give  suffieieut 
iustructiou  for  $25  to  justify  the  would-be  practitioner 
iu  beginniug.  Others  cominunieate  all  they  know, 
with  the  privilege  of  meeting  for  conversation  once  a 
month  for  a  year,  on  payment  of  $100,  They  give 
diplomas,  valued  according  to  the  standing  of  the 
respective  schools.  Impostors  have  arisen,  so  that 
Mrs.  Eddy  has  notified  the  public  that  all  persons 
claiming  to  have  been  her  pupils,  who  cannot  show 
diplomas  legally  certifying  to  that  effect,  are  pre- 
ferring false  claims. 


THEORY 

By  a  careful  examination  of  the  w^orks  of  those 
who  have  written  upon  this  subject,  including  Evans, 
Grinike,  Stuart,  Arens,  Taylor,  Baldwin,  Hazzard, 
Nichols,  Marston,  etc.,  and  by  conversation  with  Men- 
tal Healers,  Christian  Scientists,  and  their  patients, 
I  have  ascertained  that  most  of  them  concur  with 
Mrs.  Eddy  in  the  fundamental  principles  of  the  sys- 
tem, and  that  where  they  diverge  it  is  upon  minor 
points. 

Her  hypothesis  is  that  "  the  only  realities  are  the 
Divine  Mind  and  its  ideas.  .  .  .  That  erring  mortal 
views,  misnamed  mind,  produce  all  the  organic  and 
animal  action  of  the  mortal  body.  .  .  .  Rightly  under- 
stood, instead  of  possessing  sentient  nuitter,  we  have 
sensationless  bodies.  .  .  .  Whence  came  to  me  this 
conviction  in  antagonism  to  the  testimony  of  the 
human  senses?  From  the  self-evident  fact  that  mat- 
ter has  no  sensation;  from  the  common  human  expe- 
rience of  the  falsity  of  all  material  things;  from  the 
obvious  fact  that  mortal  mind  is  what  sulTers,  feels, 
sees  ;  since  matter  cannot  suffer." 


244      "CHRISTIAN  SCIENCE"  AND   "MIND  CURE" 

The  method  of  Mrs.  Eddy's  reasoning  may  be  seen 
in  the  following  extracts : 

The  ineradicable  belief  that  pain  is  located  in  a  limb  which 
has  been  removed,  when  really  the  sensation  is  believed  to  be 
in  the  nerves,  is  an  added  proof  of  the  unreliability  of  physical 
testimony.  .  .  .  Electricity  is  not  a  vital  fluid,  but  an  element 
of  mortal  mind, — the  thought-essence  that  forms  the  link  be- 
tween what  is  termed  matter  and  mortal  mind.  Both  are  differ- 
ent strata  of  human  belief.  The  gi-osser  substratum  is  named 
matter.  The  more  ethereal  is  called  human  mind,  which  is  the 
nearer  counterfeit  of  the  Immortal  Mind,  and  hence  the  more 
accountable  and  sinful  belief .  .  .  .  You  say,  "  Toil  fatigues  me." 
But  what  is  this  you  or  me  f  Is  it  muscle  or  mind  ?  Which  one  is 
tired  and  so  speaks  ?  Without  mind,  could  the  muscles  be  tired  ? 
Do  the  muscles  talk,  or  do  you  talk  for  them  ?  Matter  is  non- 
intelligent.  Mortal  mind  does  the  talking,  and  that  which  affirms 
it  to  be  tired  first  made  it  so. 


Having  adopted  a  theory,  she  does  not  shrink  from 
its  logical  sequences : 

You  would  not  say  that  a  wheel  is  fatigued ;  and  yet,  the 
body  is  just  as  material  as  the  wheel.  Setting  aside  what  the 
human  mind  says  of  the  body,  it  would  never  bo  weary  any  more 
than  the  inanimate  wheel.  Understanding  this  great  fact  rests 
you  more  than  hours  of  repose. 


Her  most  frequently  repeated  assertions  are  such 
as  these : 

God  is  supreme  ;  is  mind;  is  principle,  not  person;  includes 
all  and  is  reflected  by  all  tliat  is  real  and  eternal ;  is  Spirit,  and 
Spirit  is  infinite  ;  is  the  only  substance  ;  is  the  only  life.  Man 
was  and  is  the  idea  of  God  ;  therefore  mind  can  never  be  in  man. 
Divine  Science  sliows  tliat  matter  and  mortal  body  are  tlie  illu- 
sions of  human  belief,  which  seem  to  appear  and  disappear  to 
mortal  sense  alone.  When  this  belief  clianges,  as  in  dreams,  tlio 
material  body  changes  with  it,  going  wlierever  we  wish,  and  be- 
coming whatsoever  belief  may  decree.    Human  mortality  proves 


"CHRISTIAN  SCIENCE"  AND  "MIND  CURE"      245 

that  error  has  been  ongraftoti  into  both  the  dreams  and  conclu- 
sions of  material  and  mortal  humanity.  Besiege  sickness  and 
death  with  these  principles,  and  all  will  disappear. 


As  these  doctrines  are  unquestionably  in  substance 
such  as  have  been  held  by  certain  metaphysicians  in 
past  ages,  Mrs.  Eddy  feels  called  upon  to  answer 
those  who  make  that  charge: 

Those  who  formerly  sneered  at  it  as  foolish  and  eccen- 
tric now  declare  Bishop  Berkeley,  David  Hume,  Ralph  Waldo 
Emerson,  certain  German  philosophers,  or  some  unlearned  mes- 
merist, to  have  been  the  real  originators  of  Mind  Healing. 
Emerson's  ethics  are  models  of  their  kind ;  but  even  that  good 
man  and  genial  philosopher  partially  lost  his  mental  faculties 
before  his  death,  showing  that  he  did  not  understand  the  Science 
of  Mind  Healing,  as  elaborated  in  my  ''Science  and  Health"; 
nor  did  he  pretend  to  do  so. 

Sickness,  then,  is  a  dream  of  falsity,  to  be  antag- 
onized by  the  metaphysical  healer,  mentally,  and 
audibly  when  it  may  be  necessary. 

Mrs.  Eddy's  theories  are  her  religion,  and  her  Sci- 
ence—  so  called  —  is  based  upon  the  religious  prin- 
ciples which  she  holds. 

One  of  Mrs.  Eddy's  former  students,  named  Arens, 
for  whom  she  entertains  a  strong  spiritual  antipathy, 
has  published  a  volume  called  "Old  Theology  in  its 
Application  to  the  Healing  of  the  Sick."  In  the  in- 
troduction he  writes : 

It  will  be  unnecessary  to  ask  the  reader  for  charitable  criti- 
cism when  I  say  that  I  make  no  claims  to  being  a  ripe  scholar, 
and  that  my  knowledge  of  the  English  language  is  very  inii)er- 
fect.  The  truths  set  forth  in  this  volume  have  been  exi>rosscd 
as  clearly  as  possible,  considering  the  disadvantages  utider 
which  I  liave  labored,  one  of  which  is  the  poverty  of  words 
in  the  English  languagt!  to  express  spiritual  thoughts.  It  lias 
been  found  necessary  to  employ  close  jiunctuatio!!,  and  in  some 


246      "CHRISTIAN  SCIENCE"  AND   "MIND  CURE" 

instances  to  disregard  some  rules  of  grammar  and  rhetoric,  in 
order  to  give  the  requisite  shade  of  thought. 

The  mental  difficulty  iu  understanding  him  arises 
from  his  incompetency  as  a  writer.  His  reflection 
upon  the  poverty  of  the  English  language  is  another 
form  of  confessing  his  ignorance  of  it ;  and  his  disre- 
gard of  the  rules  of  grammar  and  rhetoric  does  not 
result  from  his  difficulty  in  giving  shades  of  thought, 
but  from  his  lack  of  knowledge  of  the  language.  Mrs. 
Eddy  thus  described  him  in  1883 : 

When  he  entered  the  class  of  my  husband,  the  late  Asa  G. 
Eddy,  in  1879,  he  had  no  knowledge  whatever,  and  claimed 
none,  as  can  be  shown  under  his  own  signature,  of  Metaphysics 
or  Christian  Science.  .  .  .  While  teaching  him  my  system  of 
Mental  Healing,  his  motives  and  aims  and  the  general  constitu- 
tion of  his  mind  were  found  so  remote  from  the  requirements  of 
Christian  Science,  tliat  his  teacher  despaired  of  imparting  to  him 
a  due  understanding  of  the  subject.  Perhajis  it  was  to  meet  this 
great  want  without  remedying  it,  and  cover  his  lack  of  learn- 
ing, that  ho  committed  to  memory  many  paragraphs  from  my 
works,  and  is  in  the  habit  of  repeating  them  in  his  attempts  to 
lecture.  He,  who  now  proclaims  himself  a  professor  in  the  sol- 
emn department  that  he  assumes  as  a  jay  in  borrowed  plumes, 
was  the  most  ignorant  and  empty-minded  scholar  I  ever  remem- 
ber of  examining. 

That  his  earlier  work  consists  largely  of  passages 
taken  from  Mrs.  Eddy's  writings,  and  that  it  is  as  a 
whole  in  every  respect  inferior  to  them,  is  the  simple 
statement  of  a  fact.  He  has,  however,  acquired  con- 
siderable reputation,  and  has  a  constituency.  Before 
advancing  the  fundamental  principles  of  his  system, 
he  attempts  to  show  the  inconsistencies  of  medical 
science  in  the  following  passage  : 

Materia  medica  teaches  tliat  mercury  cures,  also  that  mer- 
cury kills  ;  that  ipecac  causes  vomiting,  and  that  an  overdose 


"CHRISTIAN   SCIENCE"  AND   "MIND  CUIiE"      247 

checks  it,  etc. ;  these  are  contradictions  in  thoinsolveH.  A  rule 
that  can  be  contradicted  is  not  demonstrable,  and  tlierefore  not 
truth.  If  one  and  one  made  two  only  occasionally,  and  at  other 
times  made  three  or  more,  it  would  be  no  fact  or  rule,  because 
not  demonstrable,  and  no  dependence  could  be  placed  upon  it. 
If  from  a  science  (truth)  it  is  found  that  mercury  euros,  it  would 
be  found  that  the  more  of  that  so-called  necessary  quality  taken 
into  the  system,  the  better  it  would  be  for  the  patient;  such 
would  be  the  result  from  a  perfect  rule  or  from  truth. 

Here  is  an  example  of  his  style : 

Suppose  I  should  be  walking  past  a  house,  and  a  pane  of  plass 
should  fall  from  an  upper  window  cutting  me  and  causing  my 
death ;  the  glass  was  made  and  placed  by  life,  and  life  broke  it 
and  caused  it  to  fall.  My  life  brought  me  here  from  Prussia 
and  carried  me  by  the  house  at  the  time  that  happened;  there- 
fore life  was  the  cause  of  my  death,  and,  strange  as  it  may 
seem,  is  the  cause  of  all  action. 

From  this  profound  (?)  reasoning  he  concludes : 

If  life  is  the  cause  of  all  action  it  must  be  the  cause  of  sick- 
ness. .  .  .  Thought  is  the  first  product  of  life,  and  as  the 
thought  is  so  will  the  action  be.  Life  cannot  act  contrary  to 
the  thoughts  which  are  become  beliefs  or  opinions,  that  is, 
which  have  taken  root  or  are  become  attached  to  it,  unless  it 
acts  unconsciously. 

Mrs.  Eddy  sued  this  Dr.  Arens  for  infringing  her 
copyright,  and  obtained  judgment  against  him,  so 
that  he  was  compelled  to  destroy  a  large  edition  of 
one  of  his  pamj)hlets. 

Dr.  Arens  established  a  university  in  the  city  of 
Boston,  incorporated  five  or  six  years,  called  the 
"University  of  the  Science  of  Spirit."  It  confers  the 
foHowing  degrees:  **F.  D.,"  Defender  of  the  Faith, 
and  "  S.  S.  D.,"  Doctor  of  the  Science  of  Spirit.  The 
charge  for  instrnotion  in  the  general  course  is  one 
hundred  dollars.     These  courses  are  .sonu^what  })rt'- 


248      "CHRISTIAN  SCIENCE"  AND   "MIND  CURE" 

tentious.  The  first  treats  the  "Scientific  Basis  of 
Theology,"  "the  Difference  between  God  and  the  Uni- 
verse," etc.,  and,  proceeding  through  twenty-one  theo- 
logical points,  concludes  by  setting  forth  "the  First 
Step  in  Immortality,"  and  "How  to  Destroy  Sick- 
ness." The  second  course  discusses  "Theos,  Chaos, 
and  Cosmos";  gives  a  theory  of  the  creation  of  the 
universe  down  to  the  creation  of  the  "  first  material 
human  body,"  which  it  treats  under  "its  outline  and 
quality ;  the  necessity  for  respiration  ;  the  first  con- 
sciousness of  existence;  the  separation  of  male  and 
female ;  the  origin  of  self-will  and  its  results."  And 
finally,  "the  beginning  of  sickness  and  trouble." 

Dr.  Marston  treats  "God,  Man,  Matter,  Disease,  Sin, 
and  Death,  Healing,  Treatment,  and  Universal  Truth." 
In  his  book  he  states  that  "the  mental  healer  does  not 
care  by  what  medical  name  the  distress  is  known ;  it 
maybe  nervousness,  dyspepsia,  asthma, fever, — words 
all  alike  to  him,  since  the  effects  they  denote  are  sim- 
ply reflections  or  registers  of  wrong  thinking,"  In 
illustrating  this  lie  says: 

A  case  may  be  cited  to  illustrate  the  meaning :  A  middle-aged 
man  who  has  suffered  many  years  with  chronic  rheumatism, 
until  it  is  torture  for  him  to  move,  has  also  an  excitable  tem- 
per, a  despotic  will,  and  is  so  intolerant  that  he  cannot  abide 
opposition,  but  flies  into  a  towering  rage  if  he  is  crossed.  Ho 
has  had  many  physicians  who  ascribe  the  painful  inflammation 
of  his  joints  to  an  improper  secretion  of  uric  acid  ;  and  his  ner- 
vousness and  irritability  are  easily  accounted  for  by  the  pro- 
longed suffering  he  has  endured.  This  case  presents  the  same 
conditions  to  the  mental  healer,  but  his  conclusions  are  different. 
To  him  the  bodily  trouble  is  a  reflection  or  effect  of  lack  of  men- 
tal ease ;  and  the  unamiable  nature  results  from  a  dominant 
feeling  that  other  people  are  enemies  seeking  to  oppose  the  poor 
man's  wishes  and  thwart  his  plans.  In  treating  the  case,  the 
doctor  addresses  remedies  to  the  disturbed  secretions  which 
are  an  effect,  while  the  mental  healer  directs  his  to  the  primary 
cause,  which  is  fear. 


"CHRISTIAN   SCIENCE"  AND  "MIND  CURE"      249 

His  cure  is  reduced  to  its  simplest  form  as  follows : 
"The  senses  say  matter  can  suffer  pain;  God  says 
matter  is  insensible.  The  senses  declare  a  man  sick ; 
God  says  the  real  man  knows  nothing  of  disease." 
Under  the  head  of  Sin  and  Death  he  says :  "  Scientific 
Christianity  does  not  recognize  the  definition  of  the- 
ology, but  holds  that,  strictly  speaking,  there  is  no 
sin."  He  finally  describes  the  cure  thus:  *'A  mental 
cure  is  the  discovery  made  b}^  a  sick  person  that  he 
is  well." 

W.  F.  Evans,  a  voluminous  writer,  formerly  an 
evangelical  minister,  then  a  Swedenborgian,  and 
lately  a  mental  healer,  remarks: 

The  process  is  essentially  a  spiritual  work;  it  is  held  that 
there  is  a  part  of  us  that  is  never  sick;  and  this  part  is  mentally 
worked  upon  so  as  to  control  the  sick  jterson^s  consciousness,  this 
destroys  the  sickness,  for  mind  cures  matter.  A  disciple  of  this 
school  is  sick  —  no,  he  is  not  sick,  for  that  is  something  which 
he  will  not  admit ;  he  has  a  belief  that  ho  is  sick ;  he  then  says 
mentally  to  the  rebellious  body,  "What  are  you  f  You  have  no 
power  over  me;  you  are  merely  the  covering  given  to  me  for 
present  purposes ;  it  is  an  error  to  suppose  that  I  am  sick ;  I 
recognize  the  great  truth  that  I  myself,  my  individuality,  my 
personality,  my  mind,  cannot  be  sick,  for  it  is  immortal,  made 
in  the  image  of  God ;  when  I  recognize  the  existence  of  that 
truth  there  is  no  room  left  for  the  existence  of  error ;  two  things 
cannot  occupy  one  and  the  same  place  ;  error  cannot  exist  in  the 
same  place  with  truth,  therefore  error  is  not  in  existence ;  hence 
I  am  not  sick." 

Mrs.  Grimk6,  author  of  "Personified  Unthinkables," 
says : 

Now,  rheumatism  or  pneumonia,  etc.,  are  verbal  expressions 
for  unthiiikables,  just  as  2  +  2  =  5  is  a  verbal  expression  for  a 
lie.  By  means  of  the  picturing  faculty,  both  of  the  individual 
and  of  tliose  about  him,  tlie  outward  manifestation  of  the  un- 
thinkable will  express  itself  upon  the  body  just  as  surely  as  the 
magic-lantern  will  reflect  tlie  picture  inserted  between  the  light 


250       "CHRISTIAN  SCIENCE"  AND   "MIND   CURE" 

aud  the  leuses  wlieu  the  proper  couditious  are  met.  .  .  . 
The  problem  of  Health,  then,  would  be  how  to  cultivate  and 
keep  clean  and  healthy  pictures  in  the  mind.  Health  would 
then  be  an  essential  part  of  the  ego.  Man  would  be  a  strict 
unity,  not  a  trinity,  of  Intellect,  Body,  aud  Morals,  aud  the  ab- 
solutely necessary  postulates  of  this  Unity  would  be  Infinite 
Mind,  Freedom,  and  Eternal  Life. 

There  are  those  who  in  their  own  opinion  have 
reached  a  greater  elevation  than  either  the  Christian 
Scientists  or  the  Mind  Curers,  '^  and  profess  to  heal 
by  the  transfer  of  psychic  energy."  The  chief  prac- 
titioner in  this  sphere  informed  me  that  the  rela- 
tive rank  of  these  sciences  is,  1.  The  lower  grade — 
the  mere  physical  system.  2.  What  is  called  animal 
magnetism.  3.  The  mind  cure.  4.  The  spirits  (when 
they  are  good  spirits).  5.  Including  all  that  is  good 
in  the  others,  he  places  in  the  supernal.  He  claimed 
that  there  has  been  in  all  ages  an  order  called  the 
Inspirati,  who  practised  this  method,  and  offered  to 
make  me  a  Knight  of  that  order. 

This  will  suffice  until  it  fails  to  attract  patients, 
when,  no  doubt,  a  sixth  order,  that  of  the  Empyredn, 
will  be  devised. 

Some  of  the  Christian  Scientists  have  attempted  to 
construct  a  technical  language,  which,  when  trans- 
lated, shows  that  they  attach  as  much  importance  to 
learned  terms  as  does  any  form  of  the  material  science 
that  they  denounce.  ''Gnosis. —  The  'Spiritual  Un- 
derstanding,' the  'Immediate  Intuition,'  Vm. — 
The  God  in  Man.  Harmatia.— Off-the-trackness. 
Homo.— The  Creature  of  God.  Ego.— The  Homo  an 
lie  is.  Nemo. —  The  Homo  as  he  sees  himself.  Entiie- 
ASM. — Direct  Communication  with  God.  Nihiloid. — 
Like  unto  nothing,  the  proper  name  of  disease,  disor- 
der, discomfort.  Yoga.— Concentration  of  Thought. 
Dama. —  Subjugation  of  Sense.     Karma.  —  Law  of 


"CHRISTIAN  SCIENCE "  AND   "MIND  CURE"      251 

Cause  and  Effect.  Maya. — Illusion,  '  Mortal  Mind,' 
False  Beliefs. —  Chaos,  The  Habitat  of  Humbug." 

Most  of  these  terms  appear  to  have  had  an  orienttd 
origin,  and  are  as  valuable  in  affecting  the  ordinary 
mind  as  chloride  of  sodium  for  salt,  capsicum  for 
pepper,  and  HjO  for  water.  They  serve  also  to  make 
it  appear  that  the  Science  is  difficult,  and  that  large 
fees  for  instruction  are  reasonable. 

They  make  use  of  certain  forms  of  expression  which 
savor  more  strongly  of  cant  than  any  phrases  that 
have  ever  been  used  by  religious  sects.  They  use  the 
word  "  belief"  in  speaking  of  a  disease,  or  even  of  a 
defect  of  character.  A  lady,  talking  with  a  practi- 
tioner of  this  school  of  a  mutual  acquaintance,  said 
she  thought  her  selfish.  '^  Yes,"  replied  the  Christian 
Scientist,  "  I  believe  she  has  a  strong  belief  in  sel- 
fishness." 

To  a  patient  who  had  every  symptom  of  a  torpid 
liver  another  healer  of  the  school  said,  "It  is  unfor- 
tunate that  you  have  such  a  belief  in  bile."  To  which 
the  astonished  patient,  new  to  the  Science,  replied  that 
he  thought  any  one  would  have  the  same  belief  who 
had  the  same  kind  of  liver. 


PRACTICE 

The  manner  in  which  Christian  Science  antagonizes 
dreams  of  falsity  is  interesting,  whether  the  theories 
be  accepted  or  not. 

First. — Both  the  patient  and  the  metaphysical 
healer  must  be  taught  that 

Anatomy,  Physiology,  Treatises  on  Health,  Kustuined  by  what 
is  termed  material  law,  are  the  iiusbandiiieii  of  siekue.ss  and 
diueasc.     It  is  proverbial  that  as  long  as  you  read  medical  works 


252      "CHRISTIAN  SCIENCE"  AND   "MIND  CURE" 

you  will  be  sick.  .  .  .  Clairvoyants  and  medical  charlatans 
are  the  prolific  sources  of  sickness.  .  .  .  They  first  help  to 
form  the  image  of  illness  in  mortal  minds,  by  telling  patients 
that  they  have  a  disease ;  and  then  they  go  to  work  to  destroy 
that  disease.  They  unweave  their  own  webs.  .  .  .  When 
there  were  fewer  doctors,  and  less  thought  was  given  to  sani- 
tary subjects,  there  were  better  constitutions  and  less  disease. 

Second. — Diet  is  a  matter  of  no  importance. 

We  are  told  that  the  simple  food  our  forefathers  ate  assisted 
to  make  them  healthy;  but  that  is  a  mistake.  Their  diet  would 
not  cure  dyspepsia  at  this  period.  With  rules  of  health  in  the 
head,  and  the  most  digestible  food  in  the  stomach,  there  would 
still  be  dyspeptics. 

Third. — Exercise  is  of  no  importance. 

Because  the  muscles  of  the  blacksmith's  arm  are  strongly  de- 
veloped, it  does  not  follow  that  exercise  did  it,  or  that  an  arm 
less  used  must  be  fragile.  If  matter  were  the  cause  of  action, 
and  muscles,  without  the  cooperation  of  mortal  mind,  could  lift 
the  hammer  and  smite  the  nail,  it  might  be  thought  true  that 
hammering  enlarges  the  muscles.  But  the  trip-hammer  is  not 
increased  in  size  by  exercise.  Why  not,  since  muscles  are  as 
material  as  wood  and  iron  f 

Fourth. — A  proper  view  of  Mrs.  Eddy's  publications 
is,  however,  of  great  importance. 

My  publications  alone  heal  more  sickness  than  an  unconsci- 
entious student  can  begin  to  reach.  If  patients  seem  the  worse 
for  reading  my  book,  this  change  may  either  arise  from  the 
frightened  mind  of  the  physician,  or  mark  the  crisis  of  the  dis- 
ease.    Perseverance  in  its  perusal  would  heal  them  completely. 

Fifth. 

Never  tell  the  sick  they  have  more  courage  than  strength. 
Tell  them  rather  that  their  strength  is  in  proportion  to  their 
courage.  .  .  .  Instruct  the  sick  that  they  are  not  lielpless 
victims;  but  that,  if  they  only  know  how,  they  can  resist  dis- 


"CHRISTIAN  SCIENCE"  AND  "MIND  CURE"      253 

ease  and  ward  it  off,  just  as  positively  as  they  can  a  temptation 
to  sin. 

Sixth. — In  preparing  to  treat  patients,  the  healer 
must  strengthen  and  steady  his  own  mind. 

Bo  firm  in  your  understanding  that  Mind  governs  the  body. 
Have  no  foolish  fears  that  matter  governs,  and  can  ache,  swell, 
and  be  inflamed  from  a  law  of  its  own ;  when  it  is  self-evident 
that  matter  can  have  no  pain  or  inflammation.  ...  If  you 
believe  in  inflamed  or  weak  nerves,  you  are  liable  to  an  attack 
from  that  source.  You  will  call  it  neuralgia,  but  I  call  it  Illu- 
sion. .  .  .  When  treating  the  sick,  first  make  your  mental 
plea  in  behalf  of  harmony,  .  .  .  then  realize  the  absence 
of  disease.  .  .  .  Use  such  powerful  eloqtience  as  a  Con- 
gressman would  employ  to  defeat  the  passage  of  an  inhuman 
law. 

Seventh. — You  are  fortunate  if  your  patient  knows 
little  or  nothing,  for  "a  patient  thoroughlj'  l)ooked  in 
medical  theories  has  less  sense  of  the  divine  power, 
and  is  more  difficult  to  heal  through  Mind,  than  an 
aboriginal  Indian  who  never  bowed  the  knee  to  the 
Baal  of  civilization." 

Eighth. —  See  that  the  "minds  which  surround  your 
patient  do  not  act  against  your  influence  by  continu- 
ally expressing  such  opinions  as  may  alarm  or  dis- 
courage. .  .  .  You  should  seek  to  be  alone  with 
the  sick  while  treating  them." 

Ninth. —  Bathing  and  rubbing  are  of  no  use. 

Bathing  and  rubbing  to  alter  the  secretions,  or  remove  un- 
healthy exhalations  from  the  cuticle,  receive  a  useful  rebuke 
from  Christian  Healing.  .  .  .  John  Quincy  Adams  presents 
an  instance  of  firm  health  and  an  adherence  to  hygienic  rules, 
but  there  are  few  others. 

Tinth. — Wliat  if  the  ])atient  grow  worse? 

Suppose  the  patient  should  appear  to  grow  worse.     This  I 
term  cheniir<di::(ition.    It  is  the  upheaval  produced  when  Iiiiinor- 
99 


254      "CHRISTIAN  SCIENCE"  AND   "MIND  CURE" 

tal  Truth  is  destroying  en-oneous  and  mortal  belief.  Chemicali- 
zation brings  sin  and  sickness  to  the  surface,  as  in  a  fermenting 
fluid,  allowing  impurities  to  pass  away.  Patients  unfamiliar 
with  the  cause  of  this  commotion,  and  ignorant  that  it  is  a  fa- 
vorable omen,  may  be  alarmed.  If  such  is  the  case,  explain  to 
them  the  law  of  this  action. 

Eleventh. —  Subtle  mental  practices  are  recom- 
mended. 

I  will  here  state  a  phenomenon  which  I  have  observed.  If 
you  call  mentally  and  silently  the  disease  by  name,  as  you 
argue  against  it,  as  a  general  rule  the  body  will  respond  more 
quickly;  just  as  a  person  replies  more  readily  when  his  name 
is  spoken;  but  this  is  because  you  are  not  perfectly  attuned  to 
Divine  Science,  and  need  the  arguments  of  truth  for  reminders. 
To  let  Spirit  bear  witness  without  words  is  the  more  scientific 
way. 

This  is  further  modified: 

You  may  call  the  disease  by  name  when  you  address  it  men- 
tally;  but  by  naming  it  audibly,  you  are  liable  to  impress  it  upon 
the  mind.  The  Silence  of  Science  is  eloquent  and  powerful  to 
unclasp  the  hand  of  disease  and  reduce  it  to  nothingness. 

Twelfth. —  Some  of  the  things  that  are  not  to  be 
done. 

A  Christian  Scientist  never  gives  medicine,  never  recommends 
hygiene,  never  manipulates.  He  never  tries  to  "focus  mind." 
He  never  places  patient  and  practitioner  "back  to  back,"  never 
consults  "spirits,"  nor  requires  the  life  history  of  his  patient. 
Above  all,  he  cannot  trespass  on  the  rights  of  Mind  through 
animal  magnetism. 

The  foregoing  rules  for  practice  are  taken  from 
Mrs.  Eddy's  different  works. 

The  difference  between  the  views  of  Mrs.  Eddy 
and  those  who  diverge  from  hor  is  superficial,  though 
neither  she  nor  they  will  admit  it.     Miss  Kate  Tay- 


"CHRISTLA.N  SCIENCE"  AND  "MIND  CURE"      255 

lor,  in  "  Selfhood  Lost  in  Godhood,"  referring  to  Mrs, 
Eddy's  large  work,  says  :  "  It  can  be  read  with  profit 
by  any  who  are  seeking  truth  with  sincerity,  and  with 
no  tendency  to  become  biased."  She  also  says  that 
she  was  formerly  a  member  of  the  Christian  Science 
Association,  and  "learned  that  limitations  are  not 
conducive  to  growth,  and  that,  as  Emerson  truly  says, 
'God  always  disappoints  monopolies,'"  and  frankly 
gives  her  opinion  of  those  denounced  by  her  former 
preceptor. 

The  so-called  mal-practitioners  and  mesmerists  therein  men- 
tioned, on  thorough  investigation, — not  only  by  myself,  but  in 
company  with  others  who  seek  to  be  liberal-minded  and  to  give 
Truth  its  due  wherever  it  exists, — I  find  to  be  simply  those  who 
have  separated  themselves  from  the  Association,  that  thoy  might 
pursue  their  own  convictions  of  right,  and  step  out  of  the  regu- 
lar ranks  of  stereotyped  terms  to  let  their  thoughts  find  expres- 
sion in  their  own  words. 

The  chief  point  of  departure  in  Miss  Taylor's  theo- 
ries from  those  of  Mrs.  Eddy  is  in  the  value  attached 
to  a  knowledge  of  the  preceding  life  of  the  patient. 

Physical  disease  has  many  different  causes.  The  pliysician 
treating  a  patient  is  often  narrowed  in  his  efforts  to  do  good, 
because  of  some  hidden  moral  or  mental  cause,  some  under- 
lying fear,  some  sorrow,  some  inherited  proclivity,  some  wrong 
unforgiven,  some  trait  of  character,  some  past  occurrence 
which  has  tinged,  perhaps  almost  unconsciously,  the  whole 
tenor  of  a  life.  It  is  not  necessary  that  a  i)ersoirs  innej-most 
sacred  thoughts  and  life  be  unveiled,  as  the  physician  does  not 
expect,  neither  does  he  like,  to  receive  confidences,  unless,  in- 
deed, they  are  given  voluntarily  with  a  feeling  of  trust.  Some 
word  or  hint,  though,  to  the  physician  would  often  aid  materi- 
ally. .  .  .  The  treatment  consists  in  a  vigorous  liolding  of 
the  patient  to  his  right  of  soul-growth,  unobstructed  and  unre- 
tarded  by  physical  defects.  .  .  .  In  answer  to  the  question, 
"Is  it  prayer f"  I  would  first  quote  Victor  Hugo's  definition  of 
prayer, — "  Every  thought  is  a  prayer;  there  are  moments  when, 
whatever  be  the  attitude  of  the  body,  the  soul  is  on  its  knees," — 


256      "CHRISTIAN  SCIENCE"  AND   "MIND  CURE" 

and  then  answer,  Yes,  it  is  prayer.  Prayer  with  the  old  inter- 
pretation begs  the  Father  to  change  the  unchangeable,  while 
prayer  with  the  new  interpretation  lifts  the  beggar  to  a  com- 
prehension that  he  himself  has  omitted  to  take  the  gifts  already 
prepared  for  him  from  the  foundation  of  the  world. 

She  gives  this  advice  to  the  sick : 

Eradicate  all  thoughts  of  physiology,  drugs,  laws  of  health, 
sickness,  and  pain,  and  know  that  God  is  the  only  panacea, — 
divine  love  the  only  medicine.  .  .  .  Seek  the  help  of  a 
Christian  Healer.  .  .  .  Judge  him  not  unjustly,  .  .  . 
neither  be  in  opposition,  for  his  is  a  good  motive.  .  .  . 
While  under  his  treatment  obey  anj-  natural  impulse,  without 
fear  of  consequence.  Remember!  without  fear.  This  does  not 
mean  to  be  foolhardy  in  the  beginning, — unless  the  cui-e  should 
be  almost  instantaneous, — but  advance  gradually.  ...  If 
you  have  a  time  during  the  treatment  when  you  should  feel 
worse,  do  not  be  discouraged.  .  .  .  Look  forward.  .  .  . 
One  little  secret  it  is  well  to  know.  .  .  .  Deny  every  thought 
of  sickness  every  time  it  enters  your  mind.  .  .  .  Never  use 
will-power,  mistaking  it  for  divine  Truth. 

Also  Mrs.  Stuart  teaches  the  importance  of  a  know- 
ledge of  the  previous  life: 

A  man  came  to  me  from  Erie,  Penn.,  with  what  was  called 
by  different  M.  D's  softening  of  the  brain  and  Bright's  disease 
of  tlie  kidneys.  After  questioning  him  I  found  his  trouble 
dated  back  to  the  Chicago  fire.  Now  he  was  not  conscious  of 
any  fear,  was  in  no  personal  danger  for  himself  or  family.  But 
he  was  in  that  atmosphere  of  mental  confusion  and  terror  all 
through  the  city.  He  was  cured  by  treatment  on  that  point  and 
nothing  else.  A  woman  came  to  me  who  had  suffered  five  years 
with  what  the  doctors  called  rheiimatisra.  I  happened  to  know 
that  the  death  of  a  child  had  caused  this  effect.  By  silently 
erasing  that  picture  of  death  and  holding  in  its  place  an  image 
of  Life,  eternal  Life,  she  was  entirely  cured  in  twenty  minutes. 


"CHRISTIAN  SCIENCE"  AND   "MIND  CURE"      257 


SPECIMEN   TREATMENTS 

Mental  treatment  is  that  which  the  metaph\'sical 
liealer  is  supposed  to  be  giving  the  patient  when  she 
sits  silently  before  hira  for  a  period  longer  or  shorter 
according  to  her  judgment  of  the  necessities  of  the 
case.  Some  of  the  practitioners  have  revealed  tlie 
thoughts  which  constitute  a  mental  treatment,  so  that 
if  truth  is  an  element  of  their  system,  we  can  speak 
confidently  upon  this  part  of  it. 

I  said  to  him  mentally:  "  Yoti  havo  no  disease;  what  you 
call  your  disease  is  u  fixed  mode  of  thought  arising  from  the 
absence  of  positive  belief  in  absolute  goo<l.  Bo  stronger,"  I  said, 
"you  must  believe  in  absolute  good;  I  am  looking  at  you,  and 
I  see  you  a  beautiful,  strong  spirit,  perfectly  sound.  What 
makes  you  think  yourself  diseased?  You  are  not  diseased;  the 
shadow  of  a  doubt  is  reflected  on  your  feet,  but  it  has  no  real 
existence.  There,  look  down  yourself  and  see  that  it  is  gone. 
Why,  it  was  a  mere  negation,  and  the  place  where  you  located 
it  now  shows  for  itself  as  sound  as  the  rest  of  your  body.  Don't 
you  know  that  imperfection  is  impossible  to  that  beautiful 
creature,  your  real  self?  Since  there  is  no  evil  in  all  the  uni- 
verse, and  since  man  is  the  highest  expression  of  good  amidst 
ubiquitous  Good,  how  can  you  be  diseased  f  You  are  not  dis- 
eased. There  is  not  an  angel  in  all  the  spheres  sounder  or  more 
divine  than  you."  Then  I  spoke  out  aloud:  "There  now,"  I 
said,  "you  won't  have  that  pain  again."  As  I  said  it  there  tcn.'i 
a  sunje  of  conviction  through  me  that  seemed  to  act  on  the  blood- 
vessels of  my  body  and  made  me  tingle  all  over." — IIklen  Wil- 

MANS. 

To  this  treatment  I  shall  refer  in  elucidating  the 
causes  of  the  phenomena. 

Dr.  Evans  controverts  some  of  Mrs.  Eddy's  theo- 
ries : 

To  modify  a  patient's  thinking  in  regard  to  himself  and 
his  disease,  we  employ  the  principle  of  suggestion  or  positive 


258       "CHRISTIAN  SCIENCE"  AND   "MIND  CURE" 

affirmation — not  mental  argument,  as  it  is  sometimes  called, 
for  argument  creates  doubt  and  reaction.  No  sick  man  was 
ever  cured  by  reasoning  with  him,  mentally  or  verbally.  It  is 
the  business  of  the  man  who  I'nows  the  truth,  not  to  argue,  but 
to  affirm.  .  .  .  No  intelligent  practitioner  of  the  mind  cure 
will  ignore  wholly  all  medical  science.  .  .  .  The  phreno- 
pathie  system  is  not  necessarily  antagonistic  to  other  methods 
of  cure,  as  the  various  hygienic  regulations,  and  even  the  use  of 
the  harmless  specific  remedies. 

He  repudiates  Mrs.  Eddy's  ideas  about  the  per- 
sonality of  God,  and  says: 

It  is  not  necessary  to  deny  the  personality  of  God,  .  .  . 
Neither  is  it  necessary  to  deny  the  personality  and  persistent 
individuality  of  the  human  spirit. 

He  also  flatly  denies  Miss  Taylor's  theories,  saying, 
"  The  selfhood  is  not  lost  in  Godhood."  "  It  is  not 
necessary  to  tell  a  man  dying  of  consumption  that  he 
is  not  sick,  for  that  is  not  true."  He  says  that  one 
may  or  may  not  use  the  imposition  of  hands  in  heal- 
ing the  sick. 

As  an  example  of  Christian  Science  superstition 
exceeding  anything  attempted  by  the  most  ignorant 
advocates  of  patent  Faith  Healing,  read  the  follow- 
ing, taken  verbatim,  italics,  small  caps,  etc.,  from  a 
text-book  on  Mind  Cure,  issued  by  the  President  of 
the  "New  York  School  of  Primitive  and  Practical 
Christian  Science,"  who  states  that  his  school  will  be 
free  from  "eccentricity,  pretension,  and  fanaticism"! 

PRAYER  FOR  A   DYSPEPTIC. 

Holy  Reality!  We  BELIEVE  in  Thee  that  Thou  art  EVERY- 
WHERE present.  We  really  believe  it.  Blessed  Reality  we  do 
not  pretend  to  believe,  think  we  believe,  believe  that  we  believe. 
WE  BELIEVJ].  Believing  that  Thou  art  every  wiiere  present, 
we  believe  that  Thou  art  in  this  patient's  stomach,  in  every  fibre, 


"CHRISTIAN  SCIENCE"  AND   "MIND  CURE"      259 

in  every  cell,  in  every  atom,  that  Thou  are  the  sole,  only  Rt-ality 
of  that  stomach.  Heavenly,  Holy  Reality,  wo  will  try  not  to  bo 
such  hypocrites  and  infidels,  as  every  day  of  our  lives  to  affirm 
our  faith  in  Thee  and  then  immediately  begin  to  tell  how  sick  wo 
are,  forgetting  that  Thou  art  everything  and  that  Thou  art  not 
sick,  and  therefore  that  nothing  in  this  universe  was  ever  sick, 
is  now  sick,  or  can  be  sick.  Forgive  us  our  sins  in  that  we  have 
this  day  talked  about  our  backaches,  that  we  have  told  our 
neighbors  that  our  food  hurts  us,  that  we  mentioned  to  a  visitor 
that  there  was  a  lump  in  our  stomach,  that  we  have  wasted  our 
valuable  time  which  should  have  been  spent  in  Tliy  service,  in 
worrying  for  fear  that  our  stomach  would  grow  worse,  in  that  wo 
have  disobeyed  Thy  blessed  law  in  thinking  that  some  kind  of 
medicine  would  help  us.  We  know,  Father  and  Mother  of  us 
all,  that  there  is  no  such  a  thing  as  a  really  diseased  stomach, 
that  the  disease  is  the  Carnal  Mortal  Mind  given  over  to  the 
World,  the  Flesh,  and  the  Devil ;  that  the  mortal  mind  is  a 
twist,  a  distortion,  a  false  attitude,  the  HARMATIA  of  Thought. 
Shining  and  Glorious  Verity,  we  recognize  the  great  and  splendid 
FACT  that  the  moment  we  really  believe  the  Truth,  Disease 
ceases  to  trouble  us,  that  the  Truth  is  that  there  is  no  Disease 
in  either  real  Body  or  Mind ;  that  in  the  Mind  what  scans  to  bo 
a  disease  is  a  False  Belief,  a  Parasite,  a  hateful  Excrescence, 
and  that  what  happens  in  the  Body  is  the  shadow  of  the  LIE  in 
the  Soul.  Lord,  help  us  to  believe  that  ALL  Evil  is  Utterly 
Unreal ;  that  it  is  silly  to  be  sick,  absurd  to  be  ailing,  wicked  to 
be  wailing,  atheism  and  denial  of  God  to  say  ''I  am  sick."  Help 
us  to  stoutly  affirm  with  our  hand  in  Your  hand,  with  our  eyes 
fixed  on  Thee  that  we  have  no  D^'spepsia,  that  we  never  had 
Dyspepsia,  that  we  will  never  have  Dyspepsia,  that  there  is  no 
such  thing,  that  there  never  was  any  such  thing,  that  there  never 
will  be  any  such  thing.   Amen. — Hazzahu. 

It  is  claimed  by  all  the  Christian  Science  and  Mind 
Cure  practitioners  that  they  can  operate  upon  patients 
at  a  distance. 

There  is  no  space  nor  time  to  mind.  A  person  in  St.  Lonis 
may  bo  near  to  me  while  I  am  in  New  York.  A  person  in  the 
same  room  may  be  very  distant.  Sit  down  and  think  about  the 
person  you  wish  to  affect.  Think  long  enougli  and  strong  enough 
and  you  are  sure  to  reach  him. —  Hazzaud. 

The  following  is  a  case  of  heart  disease  which  I  cured  without 


260       "CHRISTIAN  SCIENCE"  AND   '<MIND  CURE" 

having  seen  the  patient :  "Please  find  enclosed  a  check  for  five 
hundred  dollars,  in  reward  for  your  services  that  can  never  be 
repaid.  The  day  you  received  my  husband's  letter  I  became 
conscious  for  the  first  time  in  forty-eight  hours.  My  servant 
brought  my  wrapper,  and  I  arose  from  bed  and  sat  up.  .  .  .  The 
enlargement  of  my  left  side  is  all  gone,  and  the  doctors  pro- 
nounce me  rid  of  heart  disease.  I  had  been  afflicted  with  it 
from  infancy.  It  became  organic  enlargement  of  the  heart  and 
dropsy  of  the  chest.  I  was  only  waiting  and  almost  longing  to 
die,  but  you  have  healed  me.  How  wonderful  to  think  of  it, 
when  you  and  I  have  never  seen  each  other." — Eddy. 

One  of  them  says : 

Remember  that  every  thought  that  you  think  will  be  trans- 
ferred to  the  persons  thought  of  if  you  think  long  enough  and 
strong  enough. —  Hazzard. 

This  surpasses  the  love-powders  that  are  sold  among 
the  colored  people  and  the  ignorant,  as  it  is  necessary 
to  purchase  and  administer  them,  which  is  sometimes 
considerable  trouble. 

The  practical  directions  to  attain  this  power  are  as 
follows : 

How  to  "concentrate."  1.  Look  at  an  object  on  the  ceiling 
ten  minutes;  think  of  that  object  alone.  2.  Write  a  proposition 
on  a  sheet  of  paper,  as  "God  is  the  only  reality."  Think  it  for 
ten  minutes  with  your  eyes  fixed  upon  the  paper.  3.  Begin  to 
think  of  a  subject,  and  give  a  dollar  to  the  poor  for  every  time 
your  mind  wanders.  How  to  "  subjugate."  Forget  yourself,  for- 
get the  world,  forget  you  have  a  body,  forget  you  have  any 
business  or  friends.  Empty  your  mind  of  its  contents.  Be  a 
man  of  one  idea.     Get  out  of  yourself. — Hazzard. 

The  rules  for  absent  treatment  are : 

1.  Seat  yourself  alone.  Tjct  the  room  be  silent.  2.  Subjugate 
your  senses  to  all  else  but  your  thought.  3.  Fix  your  thought 
upon  the  patient.  4.  Picture  him  in  your  mind.  5.  Go  through 
the  treatment. —  Hazzard. 


"CHRISTIAN  SCIENCE"  AND   "MIND  CURE"      261 

The  patient  may  be  iu  three  different  ways.  He  may  be  s\-m- 
pathetic  ;  that  will  help  you  greatly.  Ho  may  be  apathetic; 
that  is  not  so  good,  but  better  than  the  next.  He  may  be 
antipathetic,  hostile  ;  then  say  not  a  word,  but  silciitli/  "give  it 
to  him"  till  he  becomes  less  "cantankerous"  and  more  Christ- 
like.—Hazzard. 


MIND  CURERS   VersUS  FAITH   HEALERS, 
MESMERISTS,  ETC. 

Mrs.  Eddy  speaks  of  Mesmerism  in  this  way: 

Mortal  mind,  acting  from  the  basis  of  sensuous  belief  in  mat- 
ter, is  animal  magnetism.  ...  In  proportion  as  you  understand 
Christian  Science  you  lose  animal  magnetism.  .  .  .  Its  basis 
being  a  belief  and  this  belief  an  error,  animal  magnetism,  or 
mesmerism,  is  a  mere  negation,  possessing  neither  intelligence 
nor  power.  .  .  .  An  evil  mind  at  work  mesmerically  is  an  engine 
of  mischief  little  understood.  .  .  .  Animal  magnetism,  clairvoy- 
ance, mediumship,  and  mesmerism  are  antagonistic  to  this  Sci- 
ence, and  woidd  prevent  tlie  demonstration  thereof.  .  .  .  Tho 
Mesmeriser  produces  pain  by  making  his  sul)jeets  believe  that 
he  feels  it;  here  pain  is  proved  to  be  a  belief  without  any  aiie- 
quate  cause.  That  social  curse,  the  mesmerist,  by  making  his 
victims  believe  they  cannot  move  a  limb,  renders  it  impossible 
for  them  to  do  so  until  their  belief  or  understanding  masters  his. 

Of  Spiritualism : 

Spiritualism  with  its  material  accompaniments  would  destroy 
the  supremacy  of  Spirit. 

And  of  Clairvoyance  specifically: 

Clairvoyance  investigates  and  influences  mortal  thought  only. 
.  .  .  Clairvoyance  can  do  evil,  can  accuse  wrongfully,  and 
err  in  every  direction. 

Of  Faith  Cure : 

It  is  asked,  Wliy  are  faith  cures  sometimes  more  s])t'edy  than 
some  of  the  cures  wrought  tlirough  Christian  Scientists?     He- 


262      "CHRISTIAN  SCIENCE"  AND   "MIND  CURE" 

cause  faith  is  belief,  and  uot  understanding;  and  it  is  easier  to 
believe  than  to  understand  Spiritual  Truth.  It  demands  less 
cross-bearing,  self-renuneiation,  and  Divine  Science,  to  admit 
the  claims  of  the  personal  senses,  and  appeal  for  relief  to  a 
humanized  God,  than  to  deny  those  claims  and  learn  the  divine 
way,  drinking  his  cup,  being  baptized  with  his  baptism,  gaining 
the  end  through  persecution  and  purity.  Millions  are  belie\ing 
in  God,  or  Good,  without  sharing  the  fruits  of  goodness,  not 
having  reached  its  Science.  Belief  is  mental  blindness,  if  it 
admits  Trutli  without  understanding  it.  It  cannot  say  with  the 
Apostle,  "I  know  in  whom  I  have  believed."  There  is  even 
danger  in  the  mental  state  called  belief,  for  if  Truth  is  admitted 
but  not  understood,  error  may  enter  through  this  same  channel 
of  ignorance.  The  Faith  cure  has  devout  followers,  whose  Chris- 
tian practice  is  far  in  advance  of  mere  theory. 

Marston,  speaking  of  change  in  the  inverted  thought 
of  the  sick  person,  says : 

Since  a  change  of  the  inverted  thouglit  of  the  sick  person  is 
all  that  can  be  produced  by  extraneous  influence,  the  treatment 
of  a  professional  Healer  is  not  the  only  means  of  securing  it. 
While  a  majority  of  cases  are  affected  in  that  way.  there  are 
well-attested  instances  to  show  that  anything  that  will  enable 
the  sick  person  to  cliange  his  thought  may  put  him  in  a  condi- 
tion to  receive  spiritual  healing.  A  text  from  Scripture  or  some 
other  writings  may  be  brought  to  his  mind  with  such  force  as  to 
do  this,  or  some  sudden  event  may  startle  him  out  of  his  chronic 
delusion.  It  is  in  tliis  way  alone  that  we  can  account  for  cures 
that  seem  to  result  from  prayer,  a  resort  to  relics,  charms,  and 
other  things  believed  to  possess  peculiar  virtue.  This  is  why 
good  results  follow  any  one  of  the  thousand  absurd  acts,  by  the 
lierformance  of  which  superstitious  and  credulous  people  seek 
to  be  restored  to  liealth. 

Another  remarks : 

Tlie  question  is  often  asked,  In  what  does  the  Christian  Sci- 
ence healing  differ  from  tlie  faith  cure  ?  In  the  faith  cure  the 
patient  must  have  faith ;  in  Cliristian  Science  tliat  is  not  neces- 
sary; patients  have  frequently  l)een  helped  or  entirely  cured, 
witliout  knowing  they  were  l>eing  treated.     ...      No  great 


"CHRISTIAN  SCIENCE"  AND   "MIND  CURE"      263 

faith  is  necessary  on  the  part  of  the  patient ;  but  it  will  expe- 
dite his  recovery  if  he  take  interest  enough  in  the  method  by 
which  he  is  being  healed  to  read  suitable  books  on  the  subject, 
and  converse  profitably  with  the  healer.  .  .  .  Prayer  to  a 
personal  God  affects  the  sick  like  a  drug  that  has  no  efiifaey  of 
its  own,  but  borrows  its  power  from  human  faith  and  belief. 
The  drug  does  nothing  because  it  has  no  intelligence. 


TESTS  OF  THE  THEORY 

First  Test.  If  their  principles  be  true,  food  should 
not  be  necessary.    Mrs.  Eddy  affirms  this : 

Gustatory  pleasure  is  a  sensuous  illusion,  an  illusion  that 
diminishes  as  we  understand  our  spiritual  being  and  ascend 
the  ladder  of  Life.  This  woman  learned  that  food  neither 
strengthens  nor  weakens  the  body,  —  that  mind  alone  does 
this.  .  .  .  Teach  them  that  their  bodies  are  nourished 
more  by  Truth  than  by  food. 

Then,  finding  herself  unable  to  silence  the  testi- 
mony of  the  senses,  she  endeavors  to  circumvent  it 
thus: 

Admitting  the  common  hypothesis,  that  food  is  requisite  to 
sustain  human  life,  there  follows  the  necessity  for  another  ail- 
mission,  in  the  opposite  direction,  —  namely,  that  food  has 
power  to  destroy  life,  through  its  deficiency  or  excess,  in  qual- 
ity or  quantity.  This  is  a  specimen  of  the  ambiguous  charac- 
ter of  all  material  health-theories.  They  are  self-contradictory 
and  self-destructive, —  "a  kingdom  divided  against  it.self,  that 
is  brought  to  desolation."  If  food  preserves  life,  it  cannot 
destroy  it.  The  truth  is,  food  does  not  affect  the  life  of  nuni; 
and  this  becomes  self-evident  when  we  leara  that  God  is  our 
only  life.  Because  sin  and  sickness  are  not  qualities  of  Soul  or 
Life,  we  have  hope  in  immortality;  but  it  would  be  foolish  to 
venture  beyond  our  jtresent  understanding,  foolish  to  stop  eat- 
ing, until  we  gain  more  goodness  and  a  dearer  comiirehension 
of  the  living  God.  In  that  jjcrfect  day  of  understauiiing,  wo 
shall  neither  eat  to  live,  nor  live  to  cat. 


264       "CHRISTIAN   SCIENCE"  AND   "MIND  CURE" 

When  they  dispense  with  food  because  *' mortal 
mind"  is  under  the  influence  of  an  illusion  concern- 
ing it, — absurdly  supposing  "that  food  supports 
life,"  —  and  continue  to  live  with  the  accidents  of 
the  human  body  sustained  entirely  by  the  divine 
''substance"  of  which  they  speak,  they  will  furnish 
a  demonstration  which  will  utterly  destroy  every 
remaining  illusion  of  mortal  mind.  But  so  long  as 
they  eat,  they  are  either  voluntarily  perpetuating 
an  illusion,  or  demonstrating  that  they  are  wrong 
in  their  notions.  If  they  are  in  such  a  low  stage 
as  to  be  compelled  to  eat  when  it  would  not  be 
necessary  if  they  were  in  a  higher  plane,  they  may, 
for  the  same  reason,  be  compelled  to  use  drugs. 

Second  Test.  They  deny  that  drugs,  2)er  se,  as  taken 
into  the  human  system,  have  any  power. 

Christian  Science  divests  material  drugs  of  their  imaginary 
power.  .  .  .  The  uselessness  of  drugs,  the  emptiness  of 
knowledge,  the  nothingness  of  matter  and  its  imaginary  laws, 
are  apparent  as  we  rise  from  the  rubbish  of  belief  to  the  acqui- 
sition and  demonstration  of  spiritual  understanding.  .  .  . 
When  the  sick  recover  by  the  use  of  drugs,  it  is  the  law  of  a 
general  belief,  culminating  in  individual  faith  that  heals,  and 
according  to  this  faith  will  the  effect  be. — Eddy. 


Surely  the  mind  needs  healing  that  could  invent  the 
following  absurdity : 

The  not  uncommon  notion  that  drugs  possess  absolute,  in- 
herent curative  virtues  of  their  own  involves  an  error.  Arnica, 
quinine,  opium,  could  not  produce  the  effects  ascribed  to  them 
except  by  imputed  virtue.  Men  think  they  will  act  thus  on  the 
physical  system,  consequently  they  do.  The  property  of  alco- 
hol is  to  intoxicate;  but  if  the  common  thought  had  endowed 
it  simply  witli  a  nourishing  quality  like  milk,  it  would  produce 
a  similar  effect.  A  curious  question  arises  about  tlie  origin  of 
healing  virtues,  if  it  be  admitted  that  all  drugs  were  originally 
destitute  of  tliem.     We  can  conceive  of  a  time  in  the  mental 


*•  CHRISTIAN  SCIENCE"  AND   "MIND  CUKE"       'JOo 

history  of  the  race  wlien  no  therapeutic  value  was  assigned  to 
certain  drugs,  when,  in  fact,  it  was  not  known  that  tliey  pos- 
sessed any.  How  did  it  come  to  pass  that  common  tliought,  or 
any  thought,  endowed  them  with  healing  virtue,  in  llu-  firet 
placet  Simply  in  this  way:  Man  finding  himself  uni>rotected, 
and  liable  to  bo  hurt  by  the  elements  in  the  midst  of  which  lie 
lived,  forgot  the  true  source  of  healing,  and  began  to  seek 
earnestly  for  material  remedies  for  disease  and  wounds.  Tlie 
desire  for  sometliing  led  to  experiments;  and  with  each  trial 
there  was  associated  the  hope  that  the  means  applied  would 
prove  efficacious.  Then  what  was  at  first  an  earnest  hoj)e  came 
at  length  to  be  a  belief ;  and  thus,  by  gradual  steps,  a  belief  in 
the  contents  of  the  entire  pharmacopoeia  was  established. — 
Marston. 


It  is  true  that  in  many  cases  the  effect  of  a  medi- 
cine is  to  be  attributed  entirely  to  the  imagination,  or 
to  the  belief  that  it  will  have  such  and  such  effects; 
but  the  statement  of  such  extreme  positions  as  these 
shows  the  irrationality  of  the  theories  upon  which 
they  are  based.  According  to  the  above,  if  it  were 
generally  believed  that  alcohol  were  unintoxicating, 
nourishing,  and  bland  as  milk,  it  would  be  an  ex- 
cellent article  with  which  to  nourish  infants;  and, 
on  the  other  hand,  if  it  were  generally  believed  that 
milk  were  intoxicating,  all  the  influences  of  alcohol 
would  be  produced  upon  those  who  drank  it.  If  the 
pu1)lic  could  only  be  educated  to  believe  alcohol  to  be 
nourishing,  the  entire  mammalian  genus  might  be 
nursing  their  offspring  upon  alcohol  with  equally 
good  results.  No  insane  asylum  can  furnish  a  more 
transparent  delusion. 

That  drugs  produce  effects  upon  animals  has  been 
demonstrated  beyond  the  possil)ility  of  contradi<'tion, 
and  that,  when  the  anitnals  did  not  know  that  they 
were  taking  drugs;  and  small  doses  have  ju-odueed 
not  th«!  slightest  effect,  while  large  doses — the  ani- 
mals in  each  case  not  knowing  that  thev  were  tak- 
2:} 


266      "CHRISTIAN  SCIENCE"  AND   "MIND  CURE" 

ing  medicines — have  produced  great  effect,  and  do 
so  with  uniformity.  Also  the  effect  of  medicines 
upon  idiots  and  unconscious  infants  is  capable  of 
exact  demonstration. 

Allied  to  the  effect  of  drugs  is  that  of  poisons, 
almost  every  drug  having  the  effect  of  a  poison  if 
taken  in  excess.  Some  poisons,  however,  are  of  such 
nature  that  the  smallest  possible  dose  may  be  at- 
tended with  fatal  results.  In  the  case  of  animals, 
poisons  introduced  into  the  system  without  the  know- 
ledge of  the  animals  do  their  work  effectually. 
Strychnine  carefully  introduced  into  a  piece  of  meat 
so  small  that  a  cat  will  swallow  it  whole,  will  in  a 
very  short  time  show  its  effects.  The  instinct  of  the 
animal  will  cause  its  rejection  if  there  be  the  sliglitest 
possibility  of  perceiving  it;  but  if  sufficient  means  be 
taken  to  keep  the  animal  from  knowing  that  it  is 
taking  anything  except  meat,  it  will  swallow  the  meat, 
and  the  poison  will  do  its  work. 

These  facts  are  admitted  by  the  advocates  of 
Christian  Science  and  Mind  Cure,  and  the  absolute 
lunacy  of  their  theories  is  seen  in  the  manner  in 
which  they  attempt  to  account  for  the  effects. 

If  a  dose  of  poison  is  swallowed  through  mistake,  the  pa- 
tient dies,  while  physician  and  patient  are  expecting  favora- 
ble results.  Did  belief  cause  this  death?  Even  so,  and  as 
directly  as  if  the  poison  had  been  intentionally  taken.  .  .  . 
The  few  who  think  a  drug  harmless,  where  a  mistake  has  been 
made  in  the  prescription,  are  unequal  to  the  many  who  have 
named  it  poison,  and  so  the  majority  opinion  governs  the 
result. — Eddy. 

It  is  said  that  arsenic  kills;  but  it  would  be  very  difficult 
for  any  one  to  prove  how  it  kills;  since  persons  have  had  all 
the  symptoms  of  arsenic  poisoning  without  having  taken  any 
arsenic;  and  again,  persons  have  taken  arsenic  and  did  not  die. 
.  .  .  Suppose  you  take  a  child  that  knows  nothing  about 
arseni(.',  and  admitiister  tlie  usual  dose,  the  child  will  probably 
die,  but  I  will  show  you  that  the  arsenic  was  not  the  cause  of 


"CHRISTIAN   SCIENCE"  AND   -MIND  CUKE"      2G7 

the  death.  .  .  .  Here  you  may  say.  "What  Juul  the  life  of 
the  child  to  do  with  the  action,  the  child  not  knowing  anythintj 
about  arsenic  f  We  will  admit  that  the  child  was  ignorant  of 
the  nature  of  the  poison,  but  all  who  are  educated  in  physi- 
ology and  materia  medica  know  that  it  kills,  therefore  the 
thought,  although  unconscious  to  the  child,  was  hereditary  in 
its  life.  It  is,  indeed,  a  universal  thought  admitted  as  a  fact  in 
every  life  or  soul.  A  thought  is  a  product  of  life  and  is  action, 
and  this  thought,  produced  and  accepted  by  life,  acts  upon  the 
life  of  the  child  and  produces  unconsciously  a  confusion  therein. 
This  confusion  produces  a  fear;  this  fear  in  the  child's  life  heats 
the  blood  and  causes  the  first  conscious  action. — Arens. 

The  effects  of  various  experiments,  with  chemicals  and 
medicine,  upon  cats  and  dogs,  are  studied  most  minutely  by 
distinguished  scientific  men,  and  the  results  witnessed  pub- 
lished to  the  world  with  a  presumption  of  wisdom  and  pro- 
fundity of  learning  that  carry  the  conviction  to  most  minds  that 
the  properties  of  such  drugs,  and  their  effects  upon  the  human 
system,  have  been  forever  established.  And  Materia  Medica 
falls  back  upon  these  so-called  demonstrations  of  Science  as 
absolutely  indisputable  proofs  of  its  Theories.  Now  it  never 
seems  to  have  occurred  to  them  that  all  the  effects  witnessed 
of  such  experimenting  might  be  accounted  for  on  the  basis 
of  Thought,  and  with  the  view  of  investigating  the  subject  to 
establish  a  totally  opposite  explanation  ;  and  to  show  that  Mind 
acting  on  Matter  could  account  for  all  their  facts,  the  follow- 
ing experiments  have  been  recently  made:  The  object  of  the  ex- 
periments was  a  dog,  a  noble  thoroughbred,  of  great  sagacity 
and  intelligence.  The  first  experiment  consisted  in  conveying 
commands  to  him  entirely  through  miiut.  Not  a  word  was 
spoken,  but  his  mistress  would  say  to  him  mcnfully, —  "Carlo, 
come  here."  or  "Carlo,  lie  down."  and  although  tiie  thought 
might  have  to  bo  repeated  mentally  a  number  of  times,  yet  it 
would  reach  him,  and  sometimes  ho  would  respond  almost  im- 
mediately. Second  experiment:  One  day  his  master  discovered 
an  appearance  to  which  he  gave  the  name  Mange.  All  the 
dogs  around  were  having  it.  It  was  catching, —  Dr.  So-and-So 
had  pronounced  it  mango,  and  proscribed  a  mixture  of  Sulphur 
and  Castor  Oil,  etc.,  which  was  to  be  applied  cxternaUij  in  such 
a  way  that  Carlo,  in  attem|>ting  to  remove  the  preparation  with 
his  tongue,  would  got  a  doso  into  his  .system.  Hut  here  tlio 
mistress  interposed,  and  insisted  that  Carlo  should  be  sul)jectod 
wholly  to  mental  treatment.  The  result  was  entirely  satisfac- 
tory.    The  appearance  vanished  as  it  came.     Again  the  experi- 


268       "CHRISTIAN   SCIENCE''  AND   "MIND  CURE" 

ment  of  placing  Carlo  entirely  under  the  intelligence  of  his 
master's  mind  and  thoughts  for  a  certain  period  was  tried,  and 
compared  with  the  effects  of  leaving  him  wholly  under  his 
mistress's  mind.  In  the  former  ease  he  soon  exhibited  every 
symptom  of  dyspepsia  and  indigestion  in  every  form  to  which 
the  master  was  subject,  and  in  a  very  marked  degree.  But 
under  the  thought  of  the  mistress,  every  symptom  and  ap- 
pearance vanished  at  once.  He  soon  attained  a  perfection 
of  physical  condition  which  constantly  attracted  the  notice  of 
every  one.  Experiments  of  this  kind  were  carried  much  fur- 
ther, and  can  be  by  any  one  who  wishes  to  test  the  matter  for 
themselves.  In  all  the  instances  just  mentioned,  the  physical 
condition  of  the  dog  responded  to  the  mind  under  whose  in- 
fluence it  chanced  to  be.  Love  and  Fear  {especially  fear)  are 
the  most  marked  characteristics  of  the  animal  mind.  The  in- 
stances are  innumerable  where  the  instinct  of  the  animal  sur- 
passes the  reason  of  man  in  detecting  the  kindly  thought,  or 
the  thought  of  harm,  toward  itself.  "When  a  scientific  experi- 
menter gives  a  drug  to  a  dog,  it  is  done  with  a  perfect  certainty 
in  his  mind  that  disorder,  derangement  of  the  system,  suffering, 
etc.,  in  some  form  or  another,  are  sure  to  follow.  A  fear  cor- 
responding to  the  thought  of  the  man  instantly  seizes  upon  the 
dog,  and  various  results  do  follow.  The  experimenter  notes 
them  down  and  then  proceeds  to  try  his  drug  on  dog  number  2, 
all  the  while  holding  in  his  mind  an  image  of  the  results  of  ex- 
periment number  1,  expecting  to  see  similar  results.  In  all 
pi'obability  he  sees  them. — Stuart,  i 

Third  Test.  Extraordinary  accidents  to  the  body. 
Whatever  may  be  said  of  the  power  of  thought  in  the 
production  of  ordinary  disease,  the  effects  of  acci- 
dents to  persons  who  are  entirely  unconscious  when 

1  Mrs.  Stuart  in  the  foregoing  passage  is  only  a  little  more  absurd 
than  Mrs.  Eddy.  "The  preference  of  mortal  mind  for  any  nictliod 
creates  a  demand  for  it,  and  the  body  seems  to  require  it.  You  can 
even  educate  a  healthy  horse  so  far  in  physiology  that  he  will  take 
cold  without  his  l)lanket;  whereas  the  wild  animal,  loft  to  his  in- 
stincts, sniffs  th(?  wind  with  delight."  The  connection  of  this  qiiota- 
tion  with  what  goes  before  shows  that  the  horse  doos  not  take  cold,  in 
the  opinion  of  Mrs.  Eddy,  because,  having  been  accustomed  to  the 
blanket,  his  system  is  so  weakened  that  lie  will  take  cold  without  it; 
but  l)ecause  the  training  of  the  said  horse  has  been  such  that  he  is  led 
to  believe  that  if  the  blanket  is  not  on  he  will  take  cold! 


"CHRISTIAN  SCIENCE"  AND   "MIND  CURE"      2C9 

they  occur,  as  the  sleeping  victims  of  railroad  disas- 
ters, are  facts  which,  if  they  do  not  terminate  human 
life  at  once,  require  the  aid  of  surgery. 
Mrs.  Eddy  says : 

The  fear  of  dissevered  bo<iily  merabers,  or  a  belief  in  such  a 
possibility,  is  reflected  ou  the  body,  in  the  shape  of  headache, 
fractured  bones,  dislocated  joints,  and  so  on,  as  directly  as 
shame  is  seen  in  the  blush  rising  to  the  cheek.  This  human 
error  about  physical  wounds  and  colics  is  part  and  parcel  of  the 
delusion  that  matter  can  feel  and  see,  having  sensation  and 
substance. 

It  is  confessed,  however,  that  very  little  progress 
has  been  made  in  this  department: 

Christian  Science  is  always  the  most  skilful  surgeon,  ])ut 
surgery  is  the  branch  of  its  healing  that  will  be  last  demon- 
strated. However,  it  is  but  just  to  say  that  I  have  already  in 
my  possession  well-authenticated  records  of  the  cure,  by  mental 
surgery  alone,  of  dislocated  hip-joints  and  spinal  vertebra?. 

But  records,  to  be  well  authenticated,  require  more 
than  an  assertion.  And  the  records  may  be  authen- 
tic, and  what  they  contain  may  never  have  been 
thoroughly  tested.  As  tliey  affirm  that  ''bones  have 
only  the  substance  of  thought,  they  are  only  an  ap- 
pearance to  mortal  mind " ;  if  their  theories  be  true 
at  all,  they  shoidd  be  able  to  rectify  every  result 
of  accident  to  the  body  as  readily  and  speedily  as 
diseases  originating  within  the  system. 

Fourth  Test.  In.sanity.  It  is  a  well-established  fact 
that  blows  upon  the  head  produce  insanity.  It  is 
equally  well  established  that  surgery  in  many  ca.st's  is 
able  to  remove  the  difficulty  by  an  obviously  physical 
readjustment,  where  the  surgeon  himself  cannot  ])e 
})ositive  what  the  effect  will  be  until  after  the  experi- 
ment, and  the  victim  has  no  knowledge  whatever 


270       "CHEISTIAN  SCIENCE"  AND   "MIND  CURE" 

upon  the  subject.  During  the  late  war,  a  negro  was 
wounded  in  the  head  by  the  explosion  of  a  shell.  He 
wandered  about  for  several  years,  to  all  appearance  a 
driveling  idiot,  when  certain  surgeons  took  an  interest 
in  his  case,  and  concluded  that  the  removal  of  a  piece 
of  the  skull  which  had  been  driven  in  and  pressed 
upon  the  brain,  might  restore  his  reason.  Knowing 
that  no  damage  could  be  done  to  his  mind  by  the 
operation,  they  performed  it,  and  were  almost  appalled 
when,  after  the  lapse  of  so  many  years,  as  they  lifted 
the  piece  of  skull  and  removed  the  pressure  upon  the 
brain,  the  light  of  intelligence  returned  to  the  eye  of 
the  man,  who  said,  "We  were  at  Manassas  yesterday  ; 
where  are  we  to-day  I"  A  similar  case,  where  there 
had  been  delirium  alternating  with  coma  for  a  week, 
occurred  in  March  last. 

The  transient  effect  of  stimulants  upon  persons 
who  have  been  in  a  state  of  dementia  apparently  for 
a  long  time,  is  also  well  known. 

Mrs.  Eddy  upon  this  subject  directs  practitioners 
to  tell  the  moderately  sick  man, 

that  he  suffers  only  as  the  insane  suffer,  from  a  mere  belief. 
The  only  difference  is  that  insanity  implies  belief  in  a  diseased 
brain,  while  physical  ailments  (so  called)  arise  from  belief  that 
some  other  portions  of  the  body  are  deranged.  .  .  .  The  entire 
mortal  body  is  evolved  from  mortal  mind.  A  bunion  would  pro- 
duce insanity  as  perceptible  as  that  produced  by  congestion  of 
the  brain,  were  it  not  that  mortal  mind  calls  the  bunion  an  un- 
conscious portion  of  the  body.  Reverse  this  belief,  and  the 
results  would  be  different. 

It  may  be  readily  admitted  that  if  a  man  believed 
his  mind  was  in  his  foot,  and  believed  it  was  out  of 
order,  he  might  be  crazy.  But  in  selecting  the  bun- 
ion for  an  illustration,  Mrs.  Eddy  was  not  so  wide  of 
the  mark  as  she  might  have  been.  More  than  twenty 
years  ago,  while  listening  to  the  lectures  of  Dr.  C.  E. 


"CHRISTIAN  SCIENCE"  AND   "MIND  CURE"      271 

Brown-Sequard,  before  the  physicians  of  Brooklyn,  I 
heard  him  give  the  following  case :  A  youth  (fourteen 
years  old)  went  to  bed  perfectly  sane,  nor  had  he  ever 
had  a  symptom  of  insanity.  The  next  morning  when 
he  arose  and  stepped  upon  the  floor  he  became  a  ma- 
niac. With  great  difficulty  he  was  replaced  upon  the 
bed,  and  the  moment  he  touched  it  he  was  sane.  Dur- 
ing the  morning  he  made  several  attempts  to  rise,  al- 
ways with  the  same  result.  A  physician  was  called, 
who  in  his  account  of  the  case  says :  "  When  sitting 
up  in  his  bed  he  drew  on  his  stockings ;  but  on  putting 
his  feet  on  the  floor  and  standing  np,  his  countenance 
instanthj  changed,  the  jaw  became  vioJenfhj  convulsed, 
etc.  He  was  pushed  back  on  the  bed,  was  at  once 
calm,  looked  surprised,  and  asked  what  was  the  mat- 
ter. Inquiry  showed  that  he  had  been  fishing  the 
preceding  d&y,  but  had  met  with  no  accident.  His 
legs  were  examined  minutely,  but  nothing  unusual 
was  seen;  but,  says  the  physician,  "On  Itolding  up  the 
right  great  toe  ivith  my  finger  and  thumb  to  examine  the 
sole  of  that  foot,  the  leg  was  drawn  up  and  the  muscles 
of  the  jaws  were  suddenly  convulsed,  and  on  releasing  the 
toe  these  effects  instantly  ceased.^''  After  further  experi- 
ment, an  irritated  point,  so  small  as  to  be  scarcely 
visible,  was  taken  away  by  the  cutting  of  a  piece  of 
skin,  and  "  the  strange  sensation  was  gone  and  never 
returned." ' 


1  This  case  can  be  found  (No.  44)  in  "Lectures  on  the  Physi- 
ology and  Patholofjy  of  the  Central  Nervous  System,"  by  Brown- 
S^quard  ;  published,  1860,  in  Philadelphia.  Also  in  Holmes's 
"Annals  of  Surgery,"  vol.  3,  p.  330. 

A  similar  account  can  bo  found  of  insanity  produced  four 
years  after  a  boy  trod  on  a  piece  of  glass,  which  was  entirely 
relieved  by  removing  from  a  point  near  the  ball  of  the  big  toe  a 
trifling  piece  of  glass.  What  is  called  the  nervous  temperament 
or  condition  is  of  importance. 


272      "CHRISTIAN  SCIENCE"  AND   "MIND  CURE" 

Post-mortem  examinations  whicli  exhibit  the  de- 
generation of  the  brain  structure  are  of  uo  impor- 
tance in  the  eyes  of  these  professors  of  dreams. 

Fifth  Test.  The  perpetuation  of  youth  and  the  aboli- 
tion of  death  should  also  be  within  the  range  of  these 
magicians. 

Baldwin,  of  Chicago,  says : 

Man  should  grow  younger  as  he  grows  older;  the  principle  is 
simple.  "As  we  think  so  are  we"  is  stereotyped.  Thoughts 
and  ideas  are  ever  striving  for  external  expression.  By  keep- 
ing the  mind  young  we  have  a  perfect  guarantee  for  continued 
youthfulness  of  body.  Thought  will  externalize  itself;  thus 
growing  thought  will  ever  keep  us  young.  Reliance  on  drugs 
makes  the  mind,  consequently  the  body,  prematurely  old.  This 
new  system  will  make  us  younger  at  seventy  than  at  seventeen, 
for  then  we  will  have  more  of  genuine  philosophy. 

Mrs.  Eddy  meets  this  matter  in  the  style  of  Jules 
Verne: 

The  error  of  thinking  that  we  are  growing  old,  and  the  bene- 
fits of  destrojing  that  illusion,  are  illustrated  in  a  sketch  from 
the  history  of  an  English  lady,  published  in  the  London  "  Lan- 
cet." Disappointed  in  love  in  early  years  she  became  insane. 
She  lost  all  calculation  of  time.  Believing  that  she  still  lived 
in  the  same  hour  that  parted  her  from  her  lover,  she  took  no 
note  of  years,  but  daily  stood  before  the  window,  w^atching  for 
his  coming.  In  this  mental  state  she  remained  young.  Having 
no  appearance  of  age,  she  literally  grew  no  older.  Some  Amer- 
ican travelers  saw  her  when  she  was  seventy-four,  and  sup- 
posed her  a  young  lady.  Not  a  wrinkle  or  gray  liair  appeared, 
but  youth  sat  gently  on  cheek  and  brow.  Asked  to  judge  her 
age,  and  being  unacquainted  with  lier  history,  each  visitor  con- 
jectured that  she  must  be  under  twenty. 

That  the  above  should  be  adduced  as  proof  of  any- 
thing would  be  wonderful  if  the  person  adducing  it 
had  not  previously  ado])ted  a  theory  wliich  super- 
sedes the  necessity  of  demonstration.  It  is  impor- 
tant to  notice  that  if  the  belief  had  anything  to  do 


"CHRISTIAN  SCIENCE"  AND   "MIND  CURE"      273 

with  it,  this  amazing  result  grew  from  a  belief  in 
a  falsehood.  She  did  not  live  in  the  same  hour  that 
parted  her  from  her  lover;  she  believed  that  she  did, 
and,  according  to  Mrs.  Eddy,  this  belief  of  a  false- 
hood counteracted  all  the  ordinary  consequences  of 
the  flight  of  time. 

But  the  delusion  among  the  insane  that  they  are 
young,  that  they  are  independent  of  time  and  of  this 
world,  is  very  common ;  and  the  most  painfully  para- 
doxical sights  that  I  have  ever  witnessed  have  been 
men  and  women,  toothless,  denuded  of  hair,  and  with 
all  the  signs  of  age, — sans  teeth,  sans  eyes,  sans  taste, 
sans  everything, — some  of  them  declaring  that  they 
were  young  girls  and  engaged  to  be  married  to  presi- 
dents and  kings,  and  even  to  divine  beings.  These 
delusions  in  some  instances  have  been  fixed  for  many 
years.  Having  had  an  official  connection  with  an 
insane  asylum  for  five  years,  I  have  had  more  oppor- 
tunities than  were  desired  for  conversing  with  per- 
sons of  this  class. 

Granting  the  case  adduced  by  Mrs.  Eddy  to  be 
true,  and  admitting  that  the  state  of  the  mind  may 
have  had  some  effect,  it  is  of  no  scientific  impor- 
tance; for  the  number  who  show  no  signs  of  age 
until  fifty,  sixty,  or  even  seventy  years  have  passed, 
is  by  no  means  small  in  the  aggregate;  we  meet 
them  everywhere.  One  of  the  most  astute  observ- 
ers of  human  nature,  himself  a  physician,  solemnly 
warned  a  gentleman  that  if  he  continued  to  take 
only  four  hours'  sleep  in  twenty-four,  he  would  die 
before  he  was  fifty  years  of  age.  ''What  do  you 
suppose  my  age  to  be  now?"  said  the  gentleman. 
"Thirty,"  said  the  physician.  "I  am  sixty-nine," 
was  the  reply,  which  proved  to  ))e  the  fact. 

Mrs.  Eddy,  not  content  with  this  case,  continu<'s: 
''I  have  seen  age  regain  two  of  the  elements  it  had 


274      "CHRISTIAN  SCIENCE"  AND   "MIND  CURE" 

lost,  sight  aud  teeth.  A  lady  of  eighty-five  whom  I 
knew  had  a  return  of  sight.  Another  lady  at  ninety 
had  new  teeth,  —  incisors,  cuspids,  bicuspids,  and  one 
molar."  Such  instances  as  these  are  not  uncommon, 
but  are  generally  a  great  surprise  to  the  persons 
themselves,  and  unconnected  with  any  delusion  as  to 
flight  of  time.     They  are  simply  freaks  of  nature. 

There  is  a  flattening  of  the  eye  which  comes  on  with 
advancing  years,  and  necessitates  the  use  of  glasses. 
Many  persons  who  have  few  signs  of  age,  retain  the 
color  of  the  cheek,  have  lost  no  teeth,  and  whose 
natural  force  is  not  abated,  find  their  eyes  dim.  Ac- 
cording to  these  metaphysical  healers  this  is  not 
necessary,  but  I  have  observed  that  a  number  of 
them  say  nothing  about  being  themselves  compelled 
to  use  glasses. 

Much  is  made  of  one  case  of  a  metaphysical  healer, 
who,  after  using  glasses  fifteen  years,  threw  them 
away,  and  can  now  read  even  in  the  railroad  cars 
without  them.  Such  cases  of  second  sight  have  oc- 
curred at  intervals  always,  and  under  all  systems, 
and  sometimes  when  the  progress  of  old  age  had 
been  so  great  that  the  persons  had  suffered  many  in- 
firmities, and  had  but  a  few  months  left  in  which  to 
"  see  as  well  as  ever  they  did  in  their  lives." 

Some  famous  actors  and  actresses,  without  the  use 
of  pigments,  dyes,  or  paints,  notwithstanding  the 
irregular  hours  and  other  accidents  of  their  profes- 
sional life,  have  maintained  an  astonishing  youthful- 
ness  of  appearance  down  to  nearly  threescore  years 
and  ten. 

John  Wesley  at  seventy-five,  according  to  testimony 
indubitable  and  from  a  variety  of  sources,  not  only 
presented  the  appearance  of  a  man  not  yet  past  the 
prime  of  life,  but,  what  is  more  remarkable,  had  the 
undiminished  energy,  vivacity,  melody  and  strength 


"CHRISTIAN  SCIENCE"  AND  "MIND  CURE"      275 

of  voice  which  accompany  youth.  Nor  at  eighty-five 
had  he  exhibited  much  change.  In  the  city  of  Chicago 
there  died  recently  a  professional  man  nearly  seventy- 
five  years  of  age,  whose  teeth,  complexion,  color,  hair, 
voice,  and  mind  showed  no  signs  of  his  being  over 
forty-five  years  of  age.  Henry  Ward  Beecher,  the  Jan- 
uary before  his  death,  could  write  to  his  oldest  brother 
that  he  had  no  rheumatism,  neuralgia,  sleeplessness, 
or  deafness,  was  not  bald,  and  did  not  need  spectacles. 

Meanwhile  it  is  impossible  not  to  suppose  that  the 
case  as  described  by  Mrs.  Eddy  has  been  greatly  ex- 
aggerated. That  some  Americans  who  saw  her  at  the 
age  of  seventy-four  supposed  her  to  be  under  twenty, 
is  to  be  taken  ^'cum  grano  salis.^' 

As  for  death,  if  the  theories  of  these  romantic  phi- 
losophers be  true,  it  should  give  way ;  if  not  in  every 
case,  at  least  in  some.  It  is  said  that  there  are  hun- 
dreds of  persons  in  Boston  who  believe  that  Mrs. 
Eddy  will  never  die.  Joanna  Southcott,  who  arose 
in  England  in  1792,  made  many  disciples,  by  some 
estimated  at  one  hundred  thousand,  who  believed 
that  she  would  never  die;  but  unfortunately  for  their 
credulity  she  succumbed  to  the  inevitable  decree. 

Sixth  Test.  If  these  theories  are  true,  clothing,  so  far 
as  sustaining  warmth  and  life  is  concerned,  is  super- 
fluous, and  fire  unnecessary.  This  conclusion  reduces 
the  whole  scheme  to  an  absurdity. 


EXPLANATION  OP  THEIR  ALLEGED  SUCCESS 

In  endeavoring  to  ascertain  the  causes  of  recov- 
eries which  undoubtedly  occur  when  the  patient  is 
under  the  supervision  of  Christian  Scientists  and 
Mind  Curers,  it  would  be  a  ])lunder  to  omit  the  tes- 
timony of  Mrs.  Eddy  as  to   her  experiments  with 


276      "CHRISTIAN  SCIENCE"  AND   "MIND  CUKE" 

homeopathy.  She  says  that  she  has  attenuated  com- 
mon table  salt  until  there  was  not  a  single  saline 
property  left;  and  yet  with  one  drop  of  that  in  a 
goblet  of  water,  and  a  teaspoonf  ul  administered  every 
three  hours,  she  has  cured  a  patient  sinking  in  the 
last  stage  of  typhoid  fever.  Describing  a  case  of 
dropsy  given  up  by  the  faculty,  she  says  that  after 
giving  some  medicines  of  high  attenuation,  she  gave 
the  patient  unmedicated  pellets  for  a  while,  and  found 
that  she  continued  to  improve.  Finally  she  induced 
the  patient  to  give  up  her  medicine  for  one  day,  and 
risk  the  effects.  After  trying  this,  she  informed  Mrs. 
Eddy  that  she  could  get  along  two  days  without  the 
globules ;  but  on  the  third  day  had  to  take  them. 
She  went  on  in  this  way,  taking  unmedicated  pellets, 
with  occasional  visits  from  Mrs.  Eddy,  and  employing 
no  other  means  was  cured.  Thus  Mrs.  Eddy  says  she 
discovered  that  mind  was  potent  over  matter  and  that 
drugs  have  no  power. 

It  is  not  to  be  inferred  from  the  above  that  homeo- 
pathic remedies,  which  have  been  modified  by  the 
discoveries  made  and  the  experience  attained  since 
the  time  of  Hahnemann,  are  generally  powerless. 
That  question  is  not  essential  to  this  inquiry.  But 
the  confession  of  Mrs.  Eddy  that  her  experiments 
were  the  means  of  teaching  her  that  mind  and  not 
matter  effects  the  cure,  will  be  regarded  by  all  who 
do  not  accept  her  theories  as  containing  the  principal 
key  to  the  problem.  She  made  the  common  error  of 
generalizing  from  a  few  particulars,  and  ever  since 
has  endeavored  to  test  facts  by  theory  instead  of 
making  facts  the  test.  Because  she  found  a  supposed 
mental  cause  adequate  to  a  cure  in  a  few  cases,  she 
leaped  to  the  wild  conclusion  that  all  causes  are  men- 
tal. Notwithstanding  these  numerous  al)surdities  and 
the  radical  error,  it  would  V)e  unwise  to  lose  sight  of  the 


"CHRISTIAN  SCIENCE"  AND  "MIND  CURE"      277 

specific  elements  in  the  practice  of  Christian  Science 
and  the  various  forms  of  Mind  Cure  as  a  profession. 
The  patients  who  are  treated  by  these  practitioners 
have,  to  begin  with,  the  vis  medicatrix  natune,  wliich 
is  the  final  element  in  every  cure,  recognized  to  be 
such  by  the  leaders  of  the  medical  profession  for  a 
long  period  of  time.  Sir  John  Forbes,  M.  D.,  one  of 
the  most  eminent  regular  physicians  of  England,  re- 
marks of  the  practice  of  his  own  School  in  his  famous 
article  on  homeopathy : 

First,  that  in  a  large  proportion  of  the  cases  treated  by  allo- 
pathic physicians,  the  disease  is  cured  by  nature,  and  not  by 
them.  Second,  that  in  a  lesser  but  still  not  a  small  proportion, 
the  disease  is  cured  by  nature  in  spite  of  them  ;  in  other  words, 
their  interference  retardinp  instead  of  assisting  the  cure.  Third, 
that  in,  consequently,  a  considerable  proportion  of  diseases  it 
would  fare  as  well  or  better  with  patients  if  all  remedies — at 
least  all  active  remedies,  especially  drugs  —  were  abandoned. 

Sydenham  long  ago  said,  "I  often  think  more 
could  be  left  to  Nature  than  we  are  in  the  habit  of 
leaving  to  her;  to  imagine  that  she  always  wants  the 
help  of  art  is  an  error,  and  an  unlearned  error  too.'' 

Sir  John  Marshall,  F.  R.  S.,  in  opening  the  session  of 
the  London  University  Medical  School  in  1865,  said, 

The  t'is  medicatrix  naturre  is  the  agent  to  employ  in  the  heal- 
ing of  an  ulcer,  or  the  union  of  a  broken  bone  ;  and  it  is  equally 
true  that  the  physician  or  surgeon  never  cured  a  disease ;  he 
only  assists  the  natural  processes  of  cure  performed  by  the  in- 
trinsic conser\'ative  energj'  of  the  frame,  and  this  is  but  the  ex- 
tension of  the  force  imparted  at  the  origination  of  the  individual 
being. 

Under  the  Mind  Cure  this  force  of  nature  is  still  at 
work,  and  in  tli<'  great  nnnibcr  of  self-limited  dis- 
eases which  tend  to  recovery,  it  is  left  free  from  all 
error  of  practitioners.      If  it    loses  anv  advantages 
24 


278       "CHRISTIAN   SCIENCE"  AND    "MIND  CURE" 

which  the  iutroduction  of  the  proper  drugs  might 
give,  it  is  saved  from  the  cousequeuces  of  the  ad- 
ministration of   the   wrong  ones. 

The  number  of  instances  in  which  the  prescriptions 
interfere  with  nature  is  so  great  that  Dr.  Paris  wrote, 
many  years  ago,  "The  file  of  every  apothecary  woukl 
furnish  a  volume  of  instances  where  the  ingredients 
of  the  prescription  were  fighting  together  in  the  dark. 
This  is  especially  true  of  diseases  of  children.  The 
late  Dr.  Marshall  Hall  said,  ''  Of  the  whole  number 
of  fatal  cases  of  diseases  in  infancy,  a  great  propor- 
tion occur  from  the  inappropriate  or  undue  applica- 
tion of  exhausting  remedies." 

Farther,  those  who  are  treated  by  the  Mind  Curers 
in  many  cases  derive  benefit  from  the  freedom  of  diet, 
air,  and  exercise  allowed.  They  are  told  to  pay  no 
attention  to  symptoms,  think  nothing  whatever  about 
their  diseases,  and  not  talk  about  them ;  to  eat,  sleep, 
drink,  and  act  as  nearly  as  possible  as  if  they  were 
well;  and  in  a  large  majority  of  chronic  diseases,  this 
is  all  that  is  needed  to  produce  a  return  to  health. 

They  have  also  the  benefits  of  faith  and  fancy; 
as  they  are  taught  to  imagine  healthy,  vigorous 
organs,  and  their  whole  bodies  in  the  condition  of 
health,  and  with  such  mental  pictures  to  drive  away 
all  consciousness  of  symptoms,  they  summon  to  their 
aid  that  most  potent  of  all  influences,  a  calm  and  fear- 
less mind.  The  presence  of  the  practitioner  and  her 
methods  greatly  contribute  to  this  calming  influence. 

She  enters  with  a  clieerful  air  and,  without  taking  your  hand 
or  approaching  your  bed.  seats  herself  and  asks  you  to  tell  lier 
all  your  symptoms.  [She  may,  however,  belong  to  the  elass 
which  will  not  allow  any  descrii)tion  of  symptoms.]  She  re- 
ceives your  budget  of  ailments  calmly,  witliout  one  expression 
of  sympathy,  for  she  has  none,  cousideriug  all  your  maladies 
as  an  illusion  or  dream  from  which  it  is  her  divine  mission  to 


"CHRISTIAN  SCIENCE"  AND   "MIND  CURE"       279 

awaken  you.  You  are  made  to  feel,  immediately,  that  there  is 
little  of  consequence  in  all  that  you  have  been  telling  her.  She 
then  relapses  into  a  silence  of  ten  or  fifteen  niinut«'s,  in  which 
her  kind  face  wears  a  resolute  expression,  making  it  almost 
stem.  .  .  .  After  this  silent  treatment  she  speaks  to  you  in 
the  most  encouraging  manner,  endeavoring  to  call  you  away 
from  yourself  to  the  contemplation  of  spiritual  truth. 

A  point  of  difference  between  Faith  Healers  and 
Mind  Carers  is  worthy  of  observation.  Faith  Heal- 
ers require  the  patient  to  have  faith;  Mind  Curers 
make  a  boast  of  the  fact  that  faith  is  not  necessary. 
A  close  analysis,  however,  shows  that  this  boast  is 
vain.  Before  they  are  sent  for  there  is  usually  some 
faith,  and  often  much,  combined  with  a  distrust  of 
other  systems.  This  was,  as  some  of  their  authorities 
affirm,  the  case  when  they  began.  Sufficient  time  has 
elapsed  to  develop  a  constituency  who  employ  no  other 
methods.  If  there  is  no  faith,  there  must  be  a  distrust 
of  other  forms  of  practice,  or  there  would  be  no  reason 
for  turning  to  the  new.  Where  there  is  no  faith  on 
the  part  of  the  patient,  usually  his  friends  believe,  and 
have  induced  him  to  make  the  experiment.  Thus  he  is 
surrounded  by  an  atmosphere  of  faith  which  is  so  im- 
portant that  all  the  writers  attach  great  weight  to  it. 

Friends  and  attendants  who  are  believers  in  Mental  cure,  and 
know  what  sort  of  a  mental  atmosphere  is  favorable  to  r<'st()r- 
ing  health,  may  do  much  to  help  the  motaphysiciiui  in  liis  work. 
But,  unfortunately,  this  is  seldom  the  case  ;  and  the  friends  nro 
usually  ignorant  on  the  subject,  and  innocently  burdening  the 
invalid  with  just  that  kind  of  hurtful  sympathy  which  keeps 
him  under  a  cloud  of  <lepressi(m.  When  such  is  the  case,  their 
absence  is  more  helpful  than  their  ]>resence,  and  it  is  dcsinililc 
to  be  alone  with  the  patient  while  treating  him. —  Mauston. 

Sonie  even  go  so  far  as  to  say  that  they  should  be, 
if  possible,  removed  from  the  society  of  those  who  do 
not  l)elieve. 


280      "CHRISTIAN  SCIENCE"  AND   "MIND  CURE" 

But  a  favorable  atmosphere  exists  to  some  extent 
among  those  who  have  induced  an  unbelieving  inva- 
lid to  send  for  a  mental  healer.  Assuming  that  the 
healer  has  arrived,  it  is  easy  to  see  how  faith  is  en- 
gendered. She  takes  her  seat,  and  after  a  few  unim- 
portant questions  becomes  silent.  The  thoughts  that 
wander  through  the  mind  of  the  invalid,  as  told  me 
by  a  patient  of  thorough  intelligence,  an  alumnus  of 
one  of  the  first  universities  of  this  country,  were  such 
as  these:  ''Can  there  be  anything  in  this!  I  don't 
believe  there  is,  and  yet  a  great  many  people  are  be- 
lieving in  it,  and  some  most  wonderful  cures  have 

taken  place.     There  is  Mrs. .     I  knoiv  that  she 

was  given  up  to  die  by  our  best  physicians,  and  I 
litioiv  that  she  is  well."  Then  the  eye  will  turn  to 
the  face  of  the  metaphysician,  who  seems  looking  at 
far-off  things  and  wrestling  with  some  problem  not 
yet  solved,  but  of  the  certainty  of  the  solution  of 
which  she  has  no  doubt.  Sometimes  the  practition- 
ers cover  their  eyes,  and  this  would  add  to  the  effect 
in  many  temperaments.  The  fifteen  minutes  pass 
and  leave  the  unbeliever  passive;  as  a  quotation  else- 
where describes  it,  "less  cantankerous." 

The  encouraging  words  of  the  healer  on  departing 
are  not  without  effect,  differing  as  they  do  from  the 
uncertain  or  preternaturally  solemn  forthgivings,  or 
ill-concealed  misgivings,  of  many  ordinary  physi- 
cians. There  are  no  medicines  to  take,  no  symptoms 
to  watch,  and  only  the  certainty  of  recovery  to  be 
dwelt  upon.  Whatever  the  appetite  calls  for  is  to 
be  eaten  without  anxiety  as  to  the  consequences,  and 
if  there  be  no  appetite  there  is  to  be  no  eating  and  no 
anxiety  as  to  the  result  of  abstinence. 

The  effect  of  the  treatment  having  been  pleasant, 
tlie  patient  rather  longs  than  otherwise  for  the  next 
day  to  come,  and  for  the  next.     If  the  disease  be  one 


"CHRISTIAN  SCIENCE"  AND  "MIND  CURE"      281 

that  under  ordinary  circumstances  would  require  an 
operation,  the  dreadful  image  of  the  surgeon's  knife 
no  longer  appals  the  patient's  mind.  The  invalid 
discovers  that  he  does  not  die,  that  he  sleeps  a  little 
better;  certainly  he  is  not  aroused  to  take  medicine, 
and  there  is  no  fear  that  he  will  take  cold;  he  feels 
decidedly  better  at  the  next  visit,  and  now  faith  is 
not  only  born  but  turned  into  sight.  His  friends 
assure  him  that  he  is  better,  and  he  tells  them  that 
he  is  so. 

Perhaps  the  most  potent  cause  in  awakening  faith 
is  the  sublime  audacity  displayed  by  the  practitioner 
who  dares  to  dispense  with  drugs,  manipulation,  hy- 
giene, prayer,  and  religious  ceremony.  That  spec- 
tacle would  infallibly  produce  either  such  opposition 
and  contempt  as  would  result  in  the  termination  of 
the  experiment,  or  faith.  It  is  impossible  to  be  in  a 
negative  position  in  its  presence,  where  the  responsi- 
bilities of  life  and  death  are  assumed. 

As  for  ''  absent  treatments,"  these  are  based  on  the 
theory  that  to  think  of  another  entirely  and  abstract- 
edly occasions  a  spiritual  presence  of  that  other. 
"  Distance  is  annihilated,  and  his  living  image  and 
inner  personality  seem  to  stand  before  us,  and  what 
we  say  to  it  we  say  to  him." 

These  persons  catch  up  and  incorporate  with  their 
theories  the  yet  immature  investigations  of  the  So- 
ciety for  P.sychical  Research,  in  which  it  is  claimed 
that  a  sensitive  subject  can  form  in  the  mind  a  dis- 
tinct mental  picture  or  idea  of  words  and  letters 
which  had  been  in  the  mind  of  an  agent.  Healers 
endeavor  to  extend  those  phenomena  so  as  to  make 
them  annihilate  space;  and,  according  to  them,  "it 
is  as  easy  to  affect  a  person  in  the  interior  of  Africa 
by  a  mental  influence,  as  in  tlie  same  room."  Ibre 
thev  affiliate  with  the  whole  mass  of  superstitions 


282      "CHRISTIAN  SCIENCE"  AND   "MIND  CURE" 

which  accumulated  in  the  early  history  of  the  human 
race,  and  reappear  in  certain  temperaments  in  each 
generation.  Whether  such  a  thing  as  thought-trans- 
ference exists,  there  is  not  space  here  to  inquire;  nor 
is  it  necessary,  for  the  effects  of  the  "  absent  treat- 
ment," so  called,  can  all  be  accounted  for  without  any 
such  assumption. 

Patients  thus  treated  hnow  or  they  do  not  know 
that  they  are  being  treated.  When  they  know,  there 
is  nothing  to  explain,  for  it  is  the  same  as  if  patient 
and  practitioner  were  in  each  other's  presence.  All 
the  mental  operations,  as  well  as  the  original  force  of 
nature,  proceed  under  the  conviction  that  they  are 
being  treated  by  a  mental  healer.  If  they  do  not 
know  the  entire  field  of  coincidence  and  the  vis  medi- 
catrix  naturm  remain  inviolate;  and  to  determine  that 
there  is  any  connection  between  the  alleged  treat- 
ment and  the  change  in  the  condition  of  the  patient 
would  require  a  vast  number  of  cases  and  detailed 
coincidence  of  time  and  symptom,  for  which  these 
practitioners  do  not  display  ability,  and  for  which,  on 
their  own  testimony,  they  have  had  no  opportunity. 
Indeed,  their  theories  are  such  as  to  make  all  investi- 
gation superfluous  and  tedious. 

The  case  upon  which  Mrs.  Eddy  appears  to  rely  is 
described  thus:  ''  The  day  you  received  my  husband's 
letter  I  became  conscious  for  the  first  time  in  forty- 
eight  hours."  What  can  this  prove?  What  evidence 
is  there  that  she  would  not  have  become  conscious  if 
the  letter  had  never  been  written?  If  she  were  ever 
to  come  out  of  an  unconscious  state  and  recover,  it 
must  be  at  some  time.  The  coincidence  of  Mrs.  Eddy's 
receiving  a  letter  from  the  husband  does  not  show 
any  connection  between  the  two  facts,  for  such  letters 
have  >)een  sent  and  the  patients  have  died.  To  my 
personal  knowledge  her  treatments  have  failed,  and 


"CHRISTIAN  SCIENCE  "AND  "MIND  CURE"      283 

her  predictions  have  not  been  fulfilk'd,  the  patient 
dying  in  excruciating  agony.  Instances  which  have 
occurred,  and  can  be  reproduced  at  any  time,  of  the 
attempted  absent  treatment  of  persons  who  never  ex- 
isted, are  numerous;  for  there  is  m>t  one  of  this  elites  of 
healers  that  cannot  be  so  imposed  upon.  This  is  suf- 
ficient to  raise  a  powerful  presumption  that  tlie  spir- 
itual presence  which  they  evoke,  and  to  which  they 
speak,  is  "  such  stuff  as  dreams  are  made  of." 

It  is  not  to  be  denied  that  they  make  more 
cures  than  any  bungler  or  extremist  of  a  school 
using  drugs  would  expect.  But  their  failures  are 
numerous,  and,  like  faith  healers,  they  never  pub- 
lish these.  Compelled,  however,  to  admit  this,  the 
chancellor  of  the  University  of  the  Science  of  Spirit 
says : 

Our  inability  to  heal  instantaneously  as  they  (Jesus  and  the 
Apostles)  are  recorded  to  have  done,  is  attributable  to  our  de- 
ficiency in  the  realization  of  the  doctrine.  While  we  claim  that 
our  theory  of  healing  is  applicable  to  all  diseases,  we  do  not 
claim  to  possess  sufficient  understanding  in  it  at  the  present 
time  to  heal  all  diseases  instantaneously,  neither  would  we  now 
guarantee  to  cure  certain  diseases,  such  a»  cancer  or  consump- 
tion in  the  last  stages.  Of  one  tiling,  however,  we  are  confi<loiit, 
1.  c,  that  we  can  do  more  good  in  all  cases  of  illness  than  can 
be  done  with  any  other  theory,  or  with  materia  medica. — Akkns. 

They  are  rather  more  successful  than  faith  healers 
for  this  reason :  with  the  faith  healers  it  is  generally 
either  an  instantaneous  cure,  or  none  at  all.  And  an 
instantaneous  cure  cannot  be  made  to  apply  to  a  great 
many  cases,  and  what  is  supposed  to  be  such  is  v<>ry 
frequently  a  delusion  followed  by  a  complete  relapse. 
The  Christian  Scientist.s,  however,  and  their  conge- 
ners make  many  visits  and  give  nature  a  niiieh  Ix-tter 
op])ortunity  without  the  destruction  of  the  patient's 
faith  in  tiiem  by  a  failure  at  a  critical  juncture;  thus 


284       "CHRISTIAN  SCIENCE"  AND   "MIND  CURE" 

it  happens  that  the  proportion  of  recoveries  is  more 
numerous. 

The  principal  practical  element  has  been  more  or 
less  recognized  and  employed  by  the  greatest  physi- 
cians of  every  school  through  the  whole  history  of 
medical  practice,  as  well  as  by  quacks  and  supersti- 
tious pagan  priests.  "  The  History  of  Medical  Econ- 
omy during  the  Middle  Ages,"  by  George  F.  Fort, 
contains  numerous  illustrations  of  this  subject, 
though  adduced  for  another  purpose,  and,  unlike 
many  other  treatises,  giving  the  authorities  with 
most  painstaking  accuracy. 

Dr.  Rush,  of  whom  Dr.  Tuke  affirms  that  few 
physicians  have  had  more  practical  experience  of 
disease,  says: 

I  have  frequently  prescribed  remedies  of  doubtful  efficacy  in 
the  critical  stage  of  acute  diseases,  but  never  till  I  had  worked 
up  my  patients  into  a  confidence  bordering  upon  certainty  of 
their  probable  good  effects.  The  success  of  this  measure  has 
much  oftener  answered  than  disappointed  my  expectations. 

The  "  British  and  Foreign  Medical  Review "  for 
January,  184(>,  whose  editor  then  was  Sir  John  Forbes, 
contained  an  article  written  by  himself  which  encour- 
ages "■  the  administration  of  simple,  feeble,  and  alto- 
gether powerless,  non-perturbing  medicines,  in  all 
cases  in  which  drugs  are  prescribed  p>'o  forma,  for 
the  satisfaction  of  the  patient's  mind,  and  not  with 
the  view  of  producing  any  direct  remedial  effect." 

'^  Physic  and  Physicians,"  published  in  1839,  speak- 
ing of  the  celebrated  and  extraordinarily  successful 
Dr.  Radcliffe,  who  was  the  founder  of  the  Radcliffe 
Library  at  Oxford  University,  and  died  in  1714,  says 
that  he  paid  particular  attention  to  the  mind  of  the 
patient  under  his  care,  and  had  been  heard  to  say 
that  he  attributed  much  of  his  success  and  eminence 


"CHRISTIAN   SCIENCE"  AND   -MIND  CURE''      286 

to  this  circiuustauce.     There  is  a  very  good  anecdote 
illustrating  his  views  upon  this  subject : 

A  lady  of  rank  consulted  Kadcliffe  in  great  distress  about  her 
daughter,  and  the  doctor  began  the  investigation  of  the  case  by 
asking,  "  Why,  what  ails  herf"  "Alas!  doctor,"  replied  the 
mother,  "I  cannot  tell;  but  she  has  lost  her  humor,  her  looks, 
her  stomach  ;  her  strength  consumes  every  day,  and  we  are 
apprehensive  that  she  cannot  live."'  "  Why  do  you  not  marry 
hert"  said  Radcliffe.  "Alas!  doctor,  that  we woidd  fain  do. 
and  have  offered  her  as  good  a  match  as  ever  she  could  expect." 
"  Is  there  no  other  that  you  think  she  would  bo  content  to 
marry  f"  "Ah,  doctor,  that  is  what  troubles  us;  for  there  is  a 
young  gentleman  we  doubt  she  loves,  that  her  father  and  I  can 
never  consent  to."  "Why,  look  you,  madam,"  replied  Radcliffe 
gravely,  "  then  the  case  is  this  :  your  daughter  would  marry 
one  man,  and  you  would  have  her  marry  another.  In  all  my 
books  I  find  no  remedy  for  such  a  disease  as  this." 

This  principle  has  also  been  emj)loyed  by  certain 
priests  and  clergj'inen  of  every  sect.  A  young  wo- 
man, a  teacher,  was,  as  she  believed  and  as  her  friends 
supposed,  at  the  point  of  death.  Her  physician  was 
not  quite  certain  that  she  was  as  ill  as  she  seemed, 
and  requested  the  pastor  to  assist  him  in  breaking 
up  her  delusion  that  she  must  die.  He  attempted  it, 
but  she  refused  to  hear  him,  and  intrusted  him  with 
messages  for  her  friends,  especially  for  her  class  in 
the  Sunday  School.  When  about  to  bid  her  fare- 
well, he  informed  her  that  he  would  return  in  the 
afternoon;  she  replied  that  she  would  like  him  to 
pray  with  her,  but  that  it  was  useless  to  ask  for  her 
recovery.  Having  in  view  her  hearing  what  he  had 
to  .say,  he  prayed  in  such  a  way  as  to  break  the  spell 
and  cause  her  to  believe  that  she  would  recover;  as  he 
did  this,  the  morbid  symptoms  of  approaching  death 
gave  way,  and  she  is  still  living. 

Another  case  was  still  more  renuirkal)le.  A  woman, 
ill  and  bedridden,  conceived  a  high  regard  for  the 


286       "CHRISTIAN  SCIENCE"  AND   "MIND  CURE" 

piety  and  intelligence  of  her  pastor.  He  entered  her 
room  and  in  a  loud  and  solemn  voice  said,  "I  com- 
mand you  to  arise!"  Involuntarily  she  arose  and 
resumed  the  duties  of  housekeeping,  which  after  the 
lapse  of  ten  years  she  still  performs. 

A  Roman  Catholic  priest,  of  high  position  in  his 
church,  told  the  writer  that  he  thought  he  had  saved 
scores  of  lives  by  refusing  to  administer  the  Sacra- 
ment of  Extreme  Unction,  which  led  the  patients  to 
say  "Father does  not  think  I  am  going  to  die." 

In  1832,  when  the  cholera  raged  in  Norfolk,  Virginia, 
Dr.  BuzzeU,  a  physician  of  great  local  celebrity,  lived 
there.  He  was  driving  night  and  day,  and  on  one  oc- 
casion was  summoned  to  see  a  stalwart  negro  who 
was  apparently  in  the  state  of  collapse.  Instead  of 
beginning  at  once  to  treat  him,  he  accused  him  of 
shamming,  denounced  and  derided  him  in  every  pos- 
sible way  for  calling  him  when  he  was  at  work  night 
and  day,  driven  almost  to  death.  Then,  assuming 
the  appearance  of  intense  excitement,  he  procured  a 
switch  and  began  to  thrash  the  negro  very  severely. 
The  more  he  groaned,  and  the  more  he  said  he  was 
dying,  the  more  Dr.  BuzzeU  thrashed  him,  and  with 
his  threatenings  and  beatings  brought  on  such  a  tre- 
mendous reaction  that  the  man  recovered. 

In  a  visit  to  a  branch  of  the  Oneida  Community  at 
Wallingford,  in  1856,  I  asked  Mrs.  Miller,  the  sister 
of  John  H.  Noyes,  the  founder  of  the  community, 
what  they  did  if  any  of  the  inmates  became  ill,  as 
they  repudiated  medicines.  She  said  they  had  very 
little  sickness.  "'  But,  have  I  not  heard  of  an  epidemic 
of  diphtheria  among  you?"  She  said  there  had  been, 
but  by  their  treatment  they  saved  every  case.  "What 
was  that  treatment?"  "It  was  treatment  by  criticism." 
"How  was  it  applied?"  "So  soon  as  a  person  was 
taken  ill,  a  committee  was  appointed  who  went  into 


"CHRISTIAN  SCIENCE"  AND  "MIND  CURE"      2S7 

the  room  and  sat  down,  paying  no  attention  to  the 
patient;  they  began  at  once  to  speak  about  him  or 
her,  criticizing  the  patient's  peculiarities,  bringing 
every  defect  to  the  surface,  and  unsparingly  condemn- 
ing it."  Mrs.  Miller  added  that  no  one  could  endure 
this  more  than  an  hour.  The  mental  and  moral  irri- 
tation was  so  great  that  they  began  to  perspire  and 
invariably  reijovered.  The  nniversal  efficacy  of  this 
method  may  well  be  doubted,  for  many  persons  live 
in  such  an  atmosphere  that  if  that  treatment  would 
save  them,  they  would  never  die;  while  others  are  so 
callous  to  all  criticism  that  the  remedy  would  be  with- 
out effect. 

In  a  certain  lunatic  asylum  was  a  patient,  a  very 
attractive  young  lady,  whose  delusion  took  the  form 
that  she  was  specially  called  of  God  to  do  some  great 
work  which  had  not  yet  been  indicated  to  her.  With 
this  were  connected  several  pernicious  practices,  such 
as  fasting,  excessive  prayer,  and  others  of  similar 
character.  The  asylum  physicians  were  very  much 
interested  in  her,  but  the  months  passed  away  and 
she  did  not  improve. 

At  last  one  of  the  assistant  physicians,  especially 
interested  in  the  influence  of  the  mind  upon  the 
body,  determined  upon  a  plan  to  effect  her  cure  by 
a  powerful  mental  oi)eration.  Accordingly,  he  in- 
troduced a  tube  into  her  room,  without  her  know- 
ledge, and  also  prepared  a  calcium  light  so  that,  at 
a  certain  time,  he  could  flood  the  room  with  rays  of 
intense  brilliancy. 

The  young  woman  had  not  walked  a  step  for  many 
months.  At  the  ai)pointed  hour,  with  all  the  ])hysi- 
cians  standing  in  th<'  hall,  and  the  wife  of  the  physician 
in  chief — 11  thoroughly  Ciiristian  wojuan,  intensely 
sympathetic  with  the  patient  —  also  with  them,  the  phy- 
sician spoke  through  the  tube  in  the  name  of  the  Lord, 


288      "CHRISTIAN  SCIENCE"  AND   "MIND  CUEE" 

informing  the  girl  that  He  had  heard  her  prayers, 
that  she  should  soon  be  sent  upon  her  mission,  and 
that  she  should  go  forth  from  the  place  to  her  own 
home  to  testify  to  His  glory.  At  the  same  instant 
that  the  voice  was  heard,  the  room  was  flooded  with  a 
light  much  brighter  than  the  sun  at  noonday. 

Her  face,  with  the  utmost  simplicity  of  faith,  was 
lighted  up  with  a  joy  that  seemed  too  great  for  mor- 
tal; and  those  who  were  situated  where  they  could 
see  it,  declared  that  hardly  ever  in  their  lives  had 
they  seen  such  an  expression  of  seraphic  bliss. 

Of  course,  great  interest  centered  in  the  conduct  of 
the  young  woman  the  next  morning.  She  said  not  a 
word  to  a  human  being  upon  her  vision,  but  in  the 
morning  rose  and  walked  the  entire  length  of  the 
hall,  and  continued  to  improve  in  physical  and  men- 
tal health  till  discharged  from  the  asylum  as  practi- 
cally cured. 

Our  informant,  an  of&cial  of  the  institution,  of  en- 
tire credibility,  has  not  heard  from  her  for  some  time; 
but,  up  to  a  recent  period,  she  remained  in  good 
health. 

This  is  an  instance  of  cure  effected  by  the  opera- 
tion of  the  mind  upon  the  body,  as  extraordinary  as 
any  instance  of  cure  which  can  be  adduced  by  Faith 
Healers  or  Christian  Scientists. 

The  nervous  ''  temperament "  or  condition  of  the 
healer  appears  to  be  of  no  special  importance;  that 
is,  it  is  of  importance  only  in  the  same  sense  that  it  is 
to  salesmen,  public  speakers,  school-teachers,  lawyers, 
sea-captains,  detectives,  military  leaders,  physicians, 
and  all  who  impress  themselves  upon  others.  I  have 
seen  successful  healers  thin  and  tall;  others  short  and 
fat;  some  pale,  others  florid;  some  intelligent,  others 
unintelligent;  some  intellectual,  more  only  intelli- 
gent; some  in  good  health,  others  diseased;  one  of 


"CHRISTIAN  SCIENCE"  AND   "MIND  CURE"      289 

the  best  was  so  feeble  as  to  seem  on  the  verge  of 
death.i 

The  specimen  mental  treatment  given  on  page  257 
shows  how  the  practitioner  worked  herself  up  to  the 
point ;  and  it  is  easy  to  fancy  how  forcibly  she  spokt; 
when  a  surge  of  conviction  that  seemed  to  act  on  all 
the  blood-vessels  of  her  body  and  made  her  tingle  all 
over,  went  through  her;  and  it  is  eqmilly  easy  to 
imagine  the  effect  upon  the  patient. 

The  relation  of  the  Mind  Cure  movement  to  ordi- 
nary medical  practice  is  important.  It  emphasizes 
what  the  most  philosophical  physicians  of  all  schools 
have  always  deemed  of  the  first  importance,  though 
many  have  neglected  it.  It  teaches  that  medicine  is 
but  occasionally  necessary.  It  hastens  the  time  when 
patients  of  discrimination  will  rather  pay  more  for 
advice  how  to  live,  and  for  frank  declarations  that 
they  do  not  need  medicine,  than  for  drugs.  It  pro- 
motes general  reliance  upon  those  processes  which  go 
on  equally  in  health  and  disease. 

But  these  ethereal  practitioners  have  no  new  force 
to  offer  ;  there  is  no  causal  connection  l)etween  their 
cures  and  their  theories. 

What  they  believe  has  practically  nothing  to  do 
with  their  success.     If  a  new  school  were  to  arise 


1  In  practice  it  seems  to  be  more  difficult  to  successfully  treat 
one's  self  than  to  treat  another  person.  The  reason  for  this  is 
tliat,  when  y)ersonally  under  the  influence  of  supposed  disease, 
the  appeal  of  the  senses  is  more  forcible  than  when  the  decep- 
tion shows  itself  in  another.  But  that  one  can  coucjuer  the  re- 
sults of  his  own  inverted  thinking,  there  is  not  the  slightest 
occasion  to  doul)t.  .  .  .  We  must  not,  however,  make  the 
mistake  of  supposing  that  he  who  would  attempt  to  bring  heal- 
ing to  others  must  first  ])e  sound  himself.  .  .  .  The  effect 
of  a  treatment  depends  not  on  its  length,  but  on  the  condition 
of  the  healer  who  exercises  it,  and  the  dynamic  jjower  of  the 
thought  exerted.  —  Marston. 


290       'X'HRISTIAN   SCIENCE"  AND   "MIND  CURE" 

claiming  to  heal  diseases  without  drugs  or  hygiene, 
or  prayer,  by  the  hypothetical  odylic  force  invented 
by  Baron  Reichenbach,  the  effects  would  be  the  same, 
if  the  practice  were  the  same. 

Recoveries  as  remarkable  have  been  occurring 
through  all  the  ages,  as  the  results  of  mental  states 
and  nature's  own  powers. 

They  will  not  be  able  to  displace  either  the  skilled 
surgeon  or  the  educated  physician;  for  their  arro- 
gant and  exclusive  pretensions  are  of  the  nature  of  a 
"  craze."  Most  sensible  persons  will  prefer  a  physician 
who  understands  both  the  mind  and  the  body ;  wlio 
can  be  a  ''father  confessor"  to  the  sick  man,  reliev- 
ing him  of  the  responsibility  of  treating  liimself, 
quieting  his  mind,  strengthening  him  by  hope,  and 
stimulating  him  by  his  personal  presence ;  one  who,  un- 
derstanding the  mineral,  plant,  and  animal  substances 
included  in  the  materia  medica,  can  assist  nature,  in- 
terfering only  when  absolutely  necessary  and  certainly 
safe;  too  learned  and  honest,  when  not  knowing  what 
to  do,  ever  to  do  he  knows  not  what. 

They  will  also  prefer  a  physician  who  can  relieve 
their  pains  when  incurable,  smooth  their  pathway  to 
the  inevitable  end,  or,  when  he  lias  the  happiness  to 
see  them  convalescent,  will  he  able  to  give  them  such 
hygienic  hints  as  may  prevent  a  recurrence  of  the 
malady,  or  save  them  from  something  worse. 

The  verdict  of  mankind,  excepting  minds  prone  to 
vagaries  on  the  borderland  of  insanity,  will  be  tlint 
pronounced  by  Ecclesiasticus  more  than  two  thousand 
years  ago : 

''The  Lokd  hath  created  medk^ines  out  of  the 
earth  ;  and  he  that  is  wise  will  not  abhor  them. 
My  son,  in  thy  sickness  be  not  neglkiext;  i^ut 
pray  unto  the  lori),  and  he  will  .^lake  thee 
WHOLE.    Leave  off  fijom  sin,  and  obdek  thy  hands 


"CHRISTIAN  SCIENCE"  AND   "MIND  CUKE"      291 

ARIGHT.  AND  CLEANSE  THY  HEART  FKOM  ALL  WICKED- 
NESS. Then  givt.  place  to  the  physic  ian,  for  the 
Lord  hath  created  him  :  let  hlm  not  go  from 

THEE,  for  thou  HAST  NEED  OF  HIM.   ThERE  IS  A 

time  when  in  their  hands  there  is  (!()oi)  srccp:ss. 
For  they  shall  also  pray  unto  the  Lord,  that 
he  would  prosper  that  which  they  give  for  ease 
and  to  prolong  life." 


INDEX 


Abercrombie,  I>r.,  «>n  dreams,  131,  U.'> ; 

report  uf  a  cade  of  halluciniitioii, 

171. 
Abernethy,    Dr.,   on   cure  of  dropsy 

through  fri«ht,  2i 
Abscesses,  »,  ».  55,  56. 
Al>sent  treatment  of  disease,  259-2(il, 

2Sl-28;{. 
Abstinence,  visions  prcHliu-ed  by  itio- 

lon^'eil,  169. 
Abstraction  differs  from  revery,  r.i<i. 
Academy  of  Sciences  (France),  inves- 

tiK'ationof  Mesnier's  phenomena  by, 

26. 
Accidents,  Christian  Science  views  on, 

268. 
Addison,  Thomas,  on  the    i)oetry   "f 

witchcraft,  196. 
Adelaide,  reputed  cures  in,  12,  l.i. 
Adventists,  2. 

.-Eschyliis  iiraises  astrology,  67. 
.\ttlnnatlon  the  healing  power,— not 

argument,  257,  258. 
Africji.  witcli-diictors  of,  32,  Xi ;  a  self- 
constituted  missionary  to,  .'>9;  intln- 

cnceof  (iemini  in,  72. 
.\fricJin  fever,  ineltlciicy  of  faith  in,  17. 
.Xtfc,  sik'ns  of,  274,  27.5. 
AIbunil^  hysteria  in,  230,  2:n. 
Albert    of    Brandenliurg   accnsnl    nf 

witchcraft,  211,  212. 
Alcoliol,    rilap.ses  after    nf«>    of,    I*; 

effects  of,  117-110,  169. 
Aldebaran,  influence  of,  7X 
Alifiers,  i»o«rrs  of  priests  In,  48. 
.American  history,  coimidences  in,  7.% 

S2,  »4,  95. 
Ananias,  prayer  for  Paul,  41. 
Anatomy,  t'hristiaii  .Science  view  of. 

2.'.1. 
Aiiilerson,   .loshua,   cai»e  of,  1;J7,    Ki-^. 

H.!,  146. 
Andral,  on  consinnption,  12 ;    hallu 

cinations  of,  1«J9. 
Anulo  Haxons,  witch«'i-aft  nmong,  211. 
Animal    mak'netism,   larly    perform- 
ances In,  1  ;  curative  jwiwers  of,   1  ; 

discredited  by  Kri-nch  eommUsion, 


26;  discus.'^ed  by  Frencli  Academy 
of  Sciences,  26;  artitlcial  somnam- 
bulism, l:t5  ;  its  rank,  25<) ;  ignored 
by  t'hristian  Science,  254;  Mr*. 
Eddy  on,  261. 

.\nimals  3;  the  (Ireams  of,  122-124: 
effect  of  drugs  upon,  265-268. 

.Anodynes,  relapses  after  u.se  of,  l.s. 

.Anointing,  .5,  42. 

Anointing  service,  death  at  an.  4ti. 

.Anthropomancy,  *9. 

Anxiety,  visions  ])r'"luced  by,  I6!i. 

Ai>paritions,  1^4-H».'>. 

AlMjllo,  priestesses  of.  ill. 

.Apoplexy,  prmlucetl  by  Aries,  73  :  vis- 
ions attending,  169. 

Apostles,  miracles  of  the,  :{8-42, 45,  47  : 
no  account  of  failures  by,  42;  liow 
their  claims  sustained.  47  ;  tninsfor- 
mation  of  their  lives  after  death  uf 
Chri8t,62;  limited  knowledge  of,  219. 

Apparitions,  ])resentiments,  and  vi 
slons,  151-19.'.. 

.Archangel,  witchcraft  in,  202. 

Aren.s,  l>r.,  controversy  with  Mrs. 
Eddy.  245-247  ;  on  ix.isons,  2l'.6,  267  ; 
on  failures  >>{  mind-lieabrs,  283. 

Argument,  no  healing  power  in,  2.'>S. 

Aries,  influence  of  the  sign,  72,  73, 
75,  81,  82,  85  ;  events  infliienceil  by 
Saturn  in,  81  ;  events  intlneni'ed  by 
Jupiter  in,  81,  s2 ;  time  of  a-scension 
in  latitude  of  London,  n'>. 

Aristotle,  ondreiuns,  llo  ;  <>n  sleepaiid 
dreams,  122-124. 

.Arm,  cure  of  broken,  54,  ."5. 

Arms,  fractures  of.  jiroduced  by  lieni 
ini,  73. 

Arthur,  IVesident .  dreams  concerning. 
167,  note. 

Aruspicy,  8!». 

Asbmole,  Sir  Elias,  lieliever  In  luitml 
OKy,  67. 

A"la,  divination  In,  ."vS. 

Asia  Minor,  suix-rstition  in,  2<)9. 

Association,  effect  on  tbeniind,  :«i,  liVi. 

AHSuranccK,  mistaken  ideas  aliout,  18, 


;)4 


INDEX 


Astrologers,  faith  in  coiuciilences,  88  ; 
quibbles  and  equivocations  of,  80 ; 
many  wise  men  among,  92,  93. 

Astrological  calculations,  71,  72,  74. 

Astrology,  modem  votaries  of,  C'l ; 
reasons  for  investigating,  Go ; 
Goethe's  belief  in.  6C  ;  ancient  be- 
lievei-s  in,  60,  07 ;  its  strongholds, 
06 ;  in  the  Bible,  07 ;  intiuence  on 
language  and  literature,  08 ;  allu- 
sions to,  69,  70 ;  tlie  science  of,  70  ; 
the  exact  way  of  judicature  in,  74  ; 
historical  evidence  in  favor  of,  74- 
78,  80-84  ;  influence  on  literature, 
78  ;  based  on  multiplicity  of  coinci- 
dences, 78 ;  dependence  on  astron- 
omy, 79;  cause  of  failures  in  judi- 
cial,79;  Lilly's  practice  of, 81 ;  the  ca- 
reers of  twins  alleged  againstJ,  84-87  ; 
condennied  by  Luther,  88 ;  how 
maintained,  100  ;  its  meaning,  198. 

Astronomical  predictions,  103. 

Astronomy,  dependence  of  astrology 
on,  79. 

Atmospheric  astrology,  70. 

Attention,  diversion  of,  18;  concen- 
tration of,  25,  28,  34,  37,  42. 

Aiiguo",  meaning  of,  88,  90-92,  219. 

Augusta,  Ga.,  Zadkiel's  predictions  of 
eartliquakes  at,  78. 

Augustine,  Fla.,  investigations  at 
State  Institution  for  blind  and  deaf 
at,  125. 

Australia,  troubles  predicted  for,  S3  ; 
a  British  nativity  confounded  in,  8>. 

Austria,  witchcraft  in,  32,  201. 

Babylon,  witchcraft  in,  207,  208,  220. 
Bacon,  lYancis,  on  charming  waits. 

21  ;  believer  in  astrology,  07. 
Bacon,  Roger,  believer  in  astrology, 

67  ;  charged  with  witchcraft,  210. 
Bacteriology  enlightens  mysteries  of 

witchcraft,  232. 
Bailly,  J.  S.,  on  conunission  to  inves- 
tigate Mesmer's  phenomena,  20. 
Balaam's  ass,  ciise  of,  193. 
Baldwin,  Joseph  C,  case  of,  164-1()6. 
Baldwin  on  perpetuation  of  youth,  272. 
Bangs,  Dr.  N.,  on  impressions,  100. 
Baptists,  trances  among,  2  ;  catalepsy 

among,  00. 
Barnes,  (ieorgeO.,  healing  powersof,  0. 
Bathing,  Chvi-stian  Science  views  on, 

253. 
Baxter,  Richard,  views  of  dreams,  ll'i. 
Beaunietz,  adventure  with  Tallevrand, 

1,58,  159. 
Bedridden,  cure  of  the,  32,  280. 
Beeclier,  H.  W.,  vigor  of,  275. 
Belgium  influenced  l)y  Gemini,  72. 
Belief,  distinction  between  religious 

and  ordinary,  (Xi ;  a  new  meaning  of 

the  word,  251. 
Bell,  Thomas,  case  of,  i:j7,  i:i«. 


Bell-ringing,  mysterious,  191. 

Benefics,  73. 

Bennett,  Prof.  J.  11.,  on  consumption, 

11,  12. 
Berkeley,  Bishop,  alleged  originator 

of  mind-healing,  24.5. 
Bethshan,  cures  at,  5,  15,  52-54. 
Bible,  used  as  book  of  magic,  45,  57 ; 

astrology  in,  07  ;  dreams  mentioned 

in,  109;    teacliings   on   witchcraft, 

218-223. 
Birds,  the  dreams  of,  Va,  124. 
Blasphemy,  49,  .56,  57,  60. 
Blind,  cures   of  the,  2,  27,  39;    the 

dreams  of  the,  124-127. 
Blindness,  limitation  of  curing,  16. 
Blood-diseases  cured  by  mental  de- 
lusion, 21. 
Boardman,  Rev.  \V.  E.,  cures  by,  5 ; 

narrative  of  cure  of  broken  arm,  54. 
Body,  effect  of  mind  on,  31. 
Bohemia,  w  itchcraft  in,  201,  211. 
Boisniont,  A.  Brierre  de,  on  dreams, 

113  ;  on  hallucinations,  170,  171. 
Books,  etc.,  quoted: 

"American  Annals,"  126. 

"Annals  of  Surgery,"  271. 

"  Annals  of  Witchcraft,"  213. 

"Birds  of  India,"  123. 

"Brand's  Popular  Antiquities,"  189. 

"  British  and  Foreign  Medical  Re- 
view," 284. 

"Century  Magazine,"  40,  173. 

"Chance  and  Luck,"  99. 

"Clinical  Report  on  Consumption,' 
Flint's,  11. 

■'Coke's  Institutes,"  198. 

"  Congregationalist,  The,"  49. 

"Cornhill  ilagazine,"  9<i,  152. 

"  Crown  of  Glory,  The,"  59. 

"  Curiosities  of  Literature,"  208,  209. 

"  Der  Tod  als  Freund,"  76. 

"Descent  of  Man,"  123. 

"  Dictionary  of  Astrology,"  87. 

"  Discoverie  of  Witchcraft,"  209. 

"Domestic  Habits  of  Birds,"  124. 

"  Dover  Gazette,"  30. 

'■  Dreams,  Nightmare,  and  Sonniani- 
l)ulism,"  173. 

"  Education  of  the  .ludgnient,  The,"" 
6:!,  64. 

"  Encyclopiedia  Britaninca,"  192. 

"  Enulish  Past  and  Present,"  68,  n. 

"  English  Votaries,"  197. 

"  Fragments  of  Psychology,"  170. 

"Galignani's  Messenger,"  13. 

"God,  Man,  Matter,"  etc.,  248. 

"  Grammar  of  Astrology,"  70. 

"Historical  Collections  of  the  Sus- 
sex Institute,"  224. 

"History  of  Medical  Economy  dur- 
ing the  Middle  Ages,'  284. 

"History    of    the   Town    of    Uve," 
•AfK 

"  History  of  Twins,"  85. 


INDEX 


296 


"Influence  of  the  Mind  upon  the 

Bcxiy,"  3. 
"lutruduction  to  Astrology,"  71. 
"Journal  of  Medical  Science,"  11. 
"Journal  of    Psychological    Medi- 
cine,"  118,  149. 
"  Lancet,  The,"  11,  272. 
"La  Presse,"  118. 
"  Lay  of  the  Last  Minstrel,"  123. 
"Lectui-es  on  Pliysiolotjy,  etc.,  of 

Central  Nervous  .System,"  271,  n. 
"Life  of  Bangs,"  160. 
"  Life  of  Tennent,"  138. 
"  Literature,  etc.,  of  Dreams,"  lll,n. 
"London  Medical  Record,"  230. 
"Macaulay's  Uistory  of  England," 

24. 
"Medical  Critic  and  Psychological 

Journal,"  12a 
"  Medical  liecord,"  iiS. 
"  Mental  Evolution  in  Animals,"  123. 
"Mental  Pliysiology,"  20. 
"  Mystery  of  Healing,"  55. 
"  Newark  Courier,"  1(55. 
"  New  Princeton  K«view,"  124. 
"  Norfolk  Beacon,"  94. 
"  Notes  and  Queries,"  164. 
"Old  Theology  in  it« Application  to 

the  Healing  of  the  Sick,"  245. 
"On  Divination,"  89. 
"  Personified    Unthinkables,"    249, 

250. 
"  Phantasms  of  the  Living,"  140. 
"  Philadelphia  Times,"  200. 
"  Pliilosopliy  (if  Apparitions,"  18"). 
"Philosophy  of  Mystery,"  124. 
"  Physic  and  Physicians,"  284. 
"  Pneumatolopy,"  173,  174. 
"Practice  of  Medicine,"  IL 
"Princeton  Review,"  146. 
"  Provincial  Me<lical  Journal,"  52. 
"Psychological  Journal,"  157. 
"Quarterly  Eeview,"  102. 
"Rasselas,"  184. 
"Eecords   of   Salem    Witchcraft," 

225,  note,  236. 
"  Reports  of  Trials  for  Murder  by 

Poisoning,"  203. 
"  Konieo  and  Juliet,"  134. 
"Salem  Witchcraft,"  216. 
"Saturday  Review,"  65. 
"  S<^>ience  and  Health,"  240,  245. 
"  Science  of  the  Stars,"  72-76. 
"  8«;ranil)le8  amont;  the  Alps,"  l.SO. 
"SelfhiKHl  Lost  in  Gotlhood,"  2.'>iS. 
"Songs  of  the  Ru.ssian  People," 202. 
"  Story  of  the  Bacteria,"  232. 
"  Study  of  Words,"  68,  note. 
"Sun,"  New  York,  199. 
"Superstition  and  Force,"  228. 
"Sup|>o8ed  Miracles,"  23. 
"  Text-book  of  Astrology,"  67,  79,  87, 

88. 
"  Tlieory  of  Apparitions,"  186. 
" Trial  of  Witches,"  21& 


"  Visions :  a  Study  of  Falae  Sigbt," 

181. 

"  Zion's  Hendd,"  19. 
Boston,  Mass.,  cures  by  Dr.  Newtoo 

in,  2 ;  cures  of,  and  death  from,  con- 
sumption, 19. 
Boudet  on  consumption,  12. 
Bourbon  family,  planetary  influence 

over,  76. 
Brabant  influenced  by  Gemini,  72. 
Brahe,Tyoho, believer  in  astrology,  67. 
Braid,  Mr.,  cures  by,  27. 
Brain,  cessation  of  action  of,  116. 
Brainerd    unable  to  work  miracles, 

47. 
Brain-fever  produced  by  Gemini,  7.S. 
Bridgman,  I^ura,  the  dreams  of,  125. 
Bright's  disease,  imaginary,  7 ;  cured 

liy  Christian  Science,  256. 
Britain  intlucnced  by  Aries,  72. 
Brodie,  Sir  Benjamin,  cases  authenti- 
cated by,  20  ;  confessions  of,  99 ;  on 

dreams,  116. 
Brooke,  Sir  Robert,  examination  of 

Mr.  Lilly,  80. 
Brougham,  Lord,  views  on  dreaming, 

116. 
BrownSequard,  Dr.  C.  E.,  report  of 

case  of  insanity,  270. 
Brunswick  influenced  by  Aries,  72. 
Bryant,    Dr.,   cures    by,  33 ;    quarrel 

with  Dr.  Newton,  34,  36. 
Bulgaria,  witchcraft  in,  201. 
Biirglauer,  cure  of  a  student  of,  4. 
Burgundy  influenced  by  Aries,  72. 
Bury,  Agnes,  planetary  influence  over, 

76. 
Business  a£FaIrs  foretold  by  astrology, 

7a 

Buzzell,  Dr.,  cure  of  cholera  by,  286. 
Byron,  Lord,  allusion  to  astrology,  60 ; 
on  ghosts  and  apparitions,  100. 

Calvin,  John,  unatile  to  work  mira> 
cles,  47 ;  connection  with  witch- 
craft, 212. 

Canaanites,  witchcraft  among,  206. 

Canada,  trouble  predicted  for,  83 ; 
witchcraft  in,  200,  201. 

Cancer,  cures  of,  5,  15 ;  mistaken  di- 
agnoses of,  8 ;  quack  metlunls  con- 
cerning, 8  ;  of  stomach,  fatal  case, 
58 ;  inability  of  mental  healers  to 
cure,  283. 

Capua  influenced  by  Aries,  72. 

Cardan  of  Milan,  astrologer,  67;  his 
horoscope  of  Luther,  88. 

Carey  unable  to  work  miracles,  47. 

CarpenttM-,  Dr.  W.  B.,  cases  authenti- 
cated by,  20,  25 ;  investigations  by, 
27  ;  on  dreams,  131. 

Carrol,  Ned,  case  of,  16,";. 

Catalepsy  or  conversion  ?  60. 

Cause  and  effect,  establishment  of  Uw 
of,  79. 


206 


INDEX 


Cellini,  Benveiiuto,  hallucinatiuiis  of, 
169. 

Census  of  hullucinations  of  the  sane, 
171,  172. 

Chaldea,  astrology  in,  66. 

Chaldean  astrologers,  contention  of 
Diogenes  with,  84. 

Chaldeans,  witchcraft  among,  208. 

Chance,  laws  of,  99,  100  ;  possibilities 
of,  164. 

Character  forotold  by  astrology,  70. 

Charity  begins  at  home,  59. 

Charles  II.,  touches  for  scrofula,  24  ; 
planetary  influence  over,  7(). 

Charleston,  S.  C,  the  eartliquake  a 
"judgment,"  60;  Zadkiel's  predic- 
tions concerning  earthquakes  at,  78. 

Charlotte  of  Mexico,  planetary  influ- 
ence over,  76. 

Chaucer,  believer  in  astrology,  67. 

Chemicalization,  2.')3,  2.")4. 

Chemistry,  planetary  influence  over, 
73 ;  coincidences  of,  103. 

Cherbury,  Lord  Herbert  of,  vision  of, 
180. 

Chester  Cathedral,  touching  for  scrof- 
ula at,  24. 

Chickering,  Prof.  J.  \V.,  ,lr.,  on  the 
dreams  of  the  deaf,  126. 

Children,  illusions  among,  172,  173  ; 
diseases  of,  278. 

China,  astrology  in,  66  ;  witchcraft  in, 
207. 

Chloroform,  effects  of,  118. 

Cliolera,  effect  of  mental  impressions 
in  panic  of,  ,51. 

Christ,  miracles  of,  38-42,  4.5,  47  ;  ques- 
tion of  his  subjection  to  limitations 
marking  faith-healers,  39;  doctrines 
of,  40 ;  no  account  of  failures  by,  42 ; 
his  works  unparalleled  by  Christian 
faith-healers,  42 ;  how  his  claims  sus- 
tained, 47  ;  investigation  of  his  mi- 
racles, 61-ij3  ;  resuiTectinn  of,  62; 
apparition  of  the  risen,  195. 

Christian,  his  resort  in  exiiemis,  44. 

Christian  faith-healers,  claims  of, 
practically  discredited,  41. 

Christianity,  not  responsiljlc  for  faith- 
healing  delusion,  46;  cause  injured 
by  faith-healers,  4(>. 

Christianity  and  witchcraft,  209-212. 

Christian  religion,  the  jiart  of  dreams 
in,  109. 

Christian  Science,  2,S9  et  seq.;  the  tech- 
nical language  of,  2.')0,  251 ;  distin- 
guished ftom  faith  cure,  262,  263  ; 
views  on  surgery,  269;  absurdity  of 
the  scheme,  275  ;  exjilanation  of  al- 
leged success  of,  275  et  seq. 

Christian  .Science  institutes.  242. 

Christian  Science  mind-liealing,  coui-se 
of  tuition  in,  242. 

Christian  Scientist  Association,  241, 
242. 


(Jhristian  Scientists,  cant  of,  251. 

Chronic  cases,  cures  of,  15. 

Cliurch  of  Christ,  241. 

Church-wall  mortar,  cure  by,  49. 

Cicero,  on  destinies  of  twins,  84  ;  on 
divination,  89-92 ;  on  the  Oracle  of 
Delphi,  91,  92 ;  on  dreams,  109,  110, 
135. 

Circulatory  system,  effect  of  concen- 
trated attention  on,  25.  37,  38. 

Clairvoyance,  139,  154  ;  Mrs.  Eddy  on, 
261. 

Clairvoyants,  how  regarded  by  Chris- 
tian Scientists,  252. 

Clarke,  Dr.  E.  H.,  on  visions  of  the 
dying,  181. 

Coincidences,  multiplicity  of,  78;  in 
English  history,  81,  82  ;  of  other 
events,  82,  83 ;  what  necessary  to 
form  a  law,  83 ;  astrologers'  faith  in, 
88 ;  the  support  of  divination,  89,  92, 
93  ;  fre(|uency  of,  93  ;  in  names,  93, 

94,  100, 101 ;  in  dates,  94,  95  ;  as  re- 
gards Friday,  94,  95;  in  last  words, 

95,  96;  in  marriages,  96;  in  resem- 
blances, 9() ;  in  medicine,  98,  99;  in 
chances,  99, 100 ;  of  the  letter  M,  100, 
101;  their  interpretation,  102-106; 
Prof.  Airy  on,  100 ;  possibilities  of, 
106;  impartiality  of,  146;  incompu- 
tability  of,  147. 

Coke,  Lord,  on  witchcraft,  198. 

Colcliester,  manifestations  by,  97, 
98. 

Cole,  Major,  assistant  to  Mr.  Simpson, 
49. 

Coleridge,  S.  T.,  composition  of  "Kn- 
bla  Khan"  by,  114,  11.'.. 

Colunibus,  Coincidences  regarding,  94. 

Comet  B,  connection  witli  death  of 
Garneld,  7h,  82. 

Comets,  Siiakspere's  mention  of,  69. 

Common  cause,  inquiry  as  to,  19  et  seq. 

Common  sense  cannot  be  supplanted 
by  prayer,  161. 

Communists,  violence  by,  predicted 
for  Paris.  83. 

Condorcet  on  dreams,  l;U. 

Confessioiis  of  witclicraft,  retraction 
of,  227-22<),  234. 

Congenital  affections,  limitation  of 
faith  cures  of,  16. 

Congregatiunalists,  trances  among,  2; 
catalepsy  among,  (K). 

Connecticut,  Millcritesand  Adventists 
in,  2  ;  Mrs.  Mix's  ciires  in,  6 ;  witcli- 
craft in,  213,  214. 

Constantine  favored  torture,  228. 

Constantine  of  Kussia,  planetary  in- 
Ihiencc  on,  76. 

Constipation,  cure  of  obstinate,  25. 

Consumption,  <  urcs  of,  5;  imaginary, 
7  ;  simulated  by  liver  diseases,  7  ; 
deceitful  character  of,  9,  10;  fre- 
quent spontaneous  recoveries  from, 


DTDEX 


297 


10,  12;  in  Scotland,  11 ;  Prof.  J.  H. 
Bennett  on,  11;  i>iie  o(  Dr.  Cnlllss 
cures,  ID;  ca«e  of  Dr.  Newton's 
daughter,  Xt ;  planetary  iiiHuenoe 
on,  78 ;  inability  of  mental  healers 
to  cure,  ■i>3. 

Contracted  joints,  cures  of,  4,  38. 

Conversion,  wfiat  is,  00,  61. 

Convictions,  strengtii  of,  154. 

Convulsions,  cures  of,  15. 

Correspondence,  cures  by,  5,  'iMi,  260, 
282. 

Cotton  famine  in  England,  planetary 
influence  on,  82. 

Courage,  planetary  influence  r)n,  ~:i ; 
views o(  Cliristiaii  Scientists  on,2.vj. 

Cracow  influenced  by  Aries,  72, 

Criticism,  cure  by,  2S6,  2»7. 

t><Bsu8,  proptiecy  concerninjr,  92. 

Croup  produced  by  ticmini,  73. 

Cruciflxion,  the,  40. 

Cruelty,  planetary  influence  on,  73. 

Cruvcilhier  on  con.sumption,  12. 

Crystal  Palace,  illusion  at  burning  of, 
1«;). 

('ulli.<.  Dr.  Chaa.,  cures  by,.'),  15;  fail- 
ures of,  ir, ;  a  cure  of  consumption 
and  its  results,  19;  story  of  cure  of 
broken  arm,  54. 

Cures,  testimony  a.sto,  6-14  ;  condition 
of  patients  prior  to  alle;;e<i,  13,  14 ; 
imaginary  or  exaj.'gerated,  14  ;  have 
the  facta  a  common  cause?  14,  19  et 
seq.;  limitations  of,  1.'V-19  ;  extolled, 
19 ;  by  natural  mental  causes,  20-2.'i. 

Current  events,  knowledge  of,  im- 
I)arted  by  dreams,  136  et  seq. 

Daniel  an  astrologer,  67. 

Daphne  a  diviner.  2i>!>. 

Darcit  on  commission  to  investigate 
Mesmer  s  jdienoniena,  26. 

Dates,  coincideiii-es  in,  94,  95. 

Davy,  .Sir  Humphrey,  cure  of  piiraly- 
sis  by,  25. 

Day-dreaming,  120. 

Deail,  niising  the,  2;  raised  by  Christ, 
:(;» ;  consnltiuK  the,  hO;  reappear- 
ance of  the,  1S4  et  se<|. 

Deaf,  cured  by  Christ,  39;  dreams  of 
the,  12:>-127. 

Deafness,  limitation  of  curing.  16; 
cures  of,  16. 

Death,  po8.sibility  of  escaping,  2;  in- 
evitability of,  44  ;  coincidences  in 
the  hour  of,  102,  103  ;  effects  of  fear 
of,  on  mind,  IW) ;  foretold  in  dreams, 
l:MS  et  8e<|.;  dreams  of,  14U  14.'>,  147  ; 
presentiments  concerning,  162  KW  : 
Christian  .Science  view  of,  275. 

Di-fi-rment  of  pcrcipience,  14o. 

DeiotaruH,  King,  belief  in  divination. 

IM-Iiriiius  persons,  extraordinary 
Strength  shown  by,  51. 


Delirium,  its  causes  and  effects,  119. 

IKdphi,  oracle  at,  \m. 

Del  Rio  on  torture,  2is. 

Delusions,  encouraged  by  faith-heal- 
ing doctrine,  45 ;  Belf-periK-tuating, 
46. 

Dementia,  lack  of  evidence  of  cure  of, 
16;  the  dreams  of,  VM. 

Democritus,  l)elicf  in  astrology,  66,  79. 

Denionology,  198. 

Denmark,  intluenred  by  Aries,  72 ; 
witclicraft  in,  202. 

Dentist, useof  animal  magnetism  by,l. 

DeC^uincey,  Thomiis,  exiteriences,  117. 

Detroit,  cures  by  Dr.  Bryant  at,  :i3, 
34. 

Devil,  how  he  affects  ilreMms,  149. 

Devils,  cast  out  by  Christ,  ;J9 ;  cast 
out  by  .SS.  I'eler  and  I'aul,  41  ;  cures 
attributed  to,  4.'i. 

"  Devil's  Sonata,"  comiKtsition  of,  ll.'i. 

Diagnosis,  how  mistaken,  plays  into 
hands  of  faith  healers,  2S>. 

Dice  throwing,  wajser  on,  99,  100. 

Diet,  how  reganled  by  Christian  Sci- 
entists, 2.52. 

Diogenes  the  Stoic,  on  destinies  of 
twins.  84. 

Diphtheria  cured  bv  criticism.  28«i, 
287. 

DiseiLse,  cured  without  medicine,  2 ; 
simulated  by  hysteria,  7  ;  difflcul- 
ties  of  diagnosis,  11  ;  resistance  of, 
14  ;  Christiaji  doctrine  for  cases  of, 
44;  predicated,  8.i. 

Diseases,  imaginary,  7  ;  external  or  in- 
ternal, 7  ;  produced  by  Aries,  72,  73  ; 
by  Gemini,  7.'t. 

Di.seasea  of  accumulation,  how  influ- 
enceil,  ."IK 

Divination,  88-93.  198;  how  main- 
tained, 89,  92,  93,  106;  condemned 
by  Moses.  219. 

Divine  healing,  A.  R  Simpson  on,  49. 

Divine  mind  anil  its  ideas  the  oidy  re- 
alities, 243. 

Diviners,  1»2,  93. 

Divine  will,  .'lO. 

DIviniuK-rod.  the  Uilile  n»  a,  .^7. 

Divining'  rods.  •207. 

Dot  trine  of  chances,  useof,  in  investi- 
gation, 142,  143. 

Dog.  a  8oiMnand>nlistic,  ^•>^  ;  mental 
connnan<ls  to  a,  267,  268. 

Dogs  and  apparitions,  193. 

Dove,  trial  of,  2i>;{. 

Dover,  .N.  H.,8<?ance  at,  .'{0-32. 

Dnike,  .S.  O.,  on  wiUhcraft,  20.5,  21S, 
232. 

I>ream,  pIckinK  up  the  lost  thread  of 
a,  121. 

Dream  exponndinu',  'ioT. 

Dn-aminu,  ^is  inducin.'  sonmambu- 
lisMi,  124 :  ditferenliat*«l  from  in- 
sanity, 1  ;{.•{. 


298 


INDEX 


Dreaming  sleep  distinguished  from 
revery,  120. 

Dreaming  tliat  one  is  dreaming,  131. 

Dreams,  superstition  aliont,  45 ;  tlie 
food  of  superstition,  57  ;  tlieir  cause, 
investigation,  and  influence,  107- 
111, 115-150  ;  analogies  of,  115-122  ; 
plienomena  of,  121-150  ;  of  tlie  aged, 
127,128;  compared  with  reveries, 
129 ;  vividness  of,  129 ;  premonitions 
of  future  events  in,  136  et  seq.  ;  re- 
currence of,  137-139,  141,  144-146, 
150 ;  correspondences  of,  140,  141 ; 
coinciding,  145  ;  responsibility  for, 
148 ;  rational  use  of,  148-150 ;  how 
affected  by  the  devil,  149 ;  as  evi- 
dences of  acceptance  with  God,  149  ; 
habit  of  narrating,  150 ;  as  precur- 
sors of  nervous  prostration,  150 ; 
relation  to  presentiments,  152  ;  per- 
sistence of,  173. 

Dream  state,  passage  from,  to  the 
waking  state,  121. 

Dropsy,  cures  of,  21,  38,  276 ;  plane- 
tary influence  on,  73. 

Drugs,  effects  of,  117-119 ;  Christian 
Science  view  of,  264-267,  276. 

Dryden,  Charles,  horoscope  of,  67. 

Dryden,  John,  believer  in  astrology, 
67  ;  on  foreboding,  152. 

Duff  unable  to  work  miracles,  47. 

Dying,  visions  of  the,  181-184. 

Dyspepsia,  simulations  of  other  dis- 
eases by,  7  ;  I  am  treated  by  Dr. 
Bryant  for,  33. 

Dyspeptic,  prayer  for  a,  258,  259. 

Ear,  healing  of  the  cut-off,  by  Christ, 
40. 

Earthquake  a  "  judgment,"  60. 

Eurthcjuakes,  foretold  by  astrology,  70; 
Zadkiel's  predictions  of,  78,  83. 

Ecdesiasticns  on  medicine  and  phy- 
sicians, 290,  291. 

Eclipses,  predictions  of,  103. 

Eddy,  Mrs.  M.  B.  G.,  discoverer  of  the 
science  of  metajiliysical  healing, 
239  et  seq. ;  value  of  her  books,  252  ; 
cure  of  heart-disease  l)y,  2t'i0,  282 ; 
on  mesmerism,  261 ;  on  spiritualism, 
261 ;  on  clairvoyance,  261 ;  on  faith 
cure,  261 ;  on  food,  263 ;  on  drugs, 
264  ;  on  poisons,  2fA> ;  on  physical 
wounds,  269;  on  insanity,  270;  (in 
perpetuation  of  youth,  272,  273,  275; 
belief  in  immortality  of,  275;  ex- 
periments with  homeopathy,  275, 
276;  failures  of,  282,  28;^. 

Egypt,  astrology  in,  66;  witchcraft  in, 
2f)7,  208,  220  ;  influenced  by  Gemini. 
72. 

Electricity,  117 ;  relation  to  phenom- 
ena of  witchcraft,  232 ;  an  element 
of  mortal  mind,  244. 

Electro-biology,  27,  135, 


Elijah,  test  of  Divine  power,  45. 

Ellis  on  apparitions,  188,  189. 

Emerson,  R.  W.,  alleged  originator  of 
mind-healing,  245. 

Emotional  cure,  25. 

Emotional  excitement,  51,  61. 

Empyrean,  the  Order  of  the,  250. 

Enchantment,  32,  198,  201. 

Endor,  the  Witch  of,  221-223. 

England,  Faith  Homes  in,  59;  influ- 
enced by  Gemini,  72;  civil  war  in, 
75  ;  cotton  famine  in,  75  ;  influenced 
by  Aries,  75  ;  witchcraft  in,  203,  204, 
206,  212,  237. 

Englewood,  N.  .T.,  supposed  miracle 
at,  23,  24. 

English,  belief  in  witchcraft  among, 
198,  199,  201-203. 

Epilepsy,  visions  attending,  169. 

Epileptics  cured  by  Christ,  39. 

Esau,  planetary  influence  over,  85;  dis- 
similarity from  Jacob,  85,  86. 

Ether,  effects  of,  118. 

Europe,  troublous  times  in,  81 ;  div- 
ination in,  88. 

Eutychus  restored  to  life  by  St.  Paul, 
41. 

Evans,  Dr.  \V.  F.,  im  mind-healing, 
249 ;  differs  from  Jlrs.  Eddy  and 
Miss  Taylor,  257. 

Evidence,  probable  and  conclusive,  10, 
11 ;  heating  of  minds  of  witnesses, 
12 ;  dangers  of  admitting  without 
allowance,  13,  14 ;  conditions  on 
which  its  value  depends,  14  ;  Lord 
Gardenstone's  researches,  18, 19  ;  im- 
portance of  accurate,  29,  note  ;  as 
to  Christ's  miracles,  61-63 ;  the  ex- 
amination of.  78  et  seq.  ;  rules  of, 
227.    See  also  Testi  .MON  Y. 

Evil  eye,  the,  201. 

Exercise,  how  regarded  by  Christian 
Scientists,  252. 

Exi)ectancy,  28,  42. 

Expectations  of  life,  105. 

External  diseases,  testimony  to  cure 
of,  8. 

Extreme  unction,  4.3,  note ;  cures  by 
refusal  of,  286. 

Eye  cannot  be  restored  by  faith,  38. 

Failures.  unrecorde<l,  .59. 

Faith,  efficacy  of,  2,  .34  ;  stininlation 
of,  5  ;  cures  by,  6 ;  limits  scrutiny 
of  testimony,  15;  disappointnient.s 
to,  16;  cases  of  mistaken,  17;  not 
essential  in  liealing-woiks  of  Christ 
and  ai)ostIes,  41,  42  ;  the  tests  of,  42  ; 
maintained  by  coincidences,  89  ;  as 
means  to  cure,  278  ;  a  potent  cause 
in  awakening,  281. 

Faith  rs.  medical  skill,  17. 

Faith-cure,  a  pitiable  superstition,  45; 
Mrs.  Eildy  on,  261  ;  distinguished 
from  Chiistian  Science,  262,  263. 


IXDKX 


»99 


Faith-cures,  iK'iiriiijfs  of  oocult  oaitses 
ii|M>ii,  2tl  et  Sill. 

Falth-luulers,  uoriijiariijoii  of  ciin-s 
witli  those  of  otlit-r  soc-ts,  l:'.,  38; 
(lissc'iisions  anions,  l(i ;  limitntioiia 
of  powors,  ;W ;  claims  to  siip<'riiat- 
iinil  powers  ilistTcdited,  Vi ;  dis- 
pense witli  oil,  43  ;  n-prt'si-ntatioiis 
conceniiii).'  (iod's  im-tliods,  44,  4ri ; 
faihiros  of,  40,  ;V2-.V) ;  thoir  defense 
cxniniiied,  4(>-4'.t:  atrocious  dot- 
triiies  of,  fi7  ;  compared  with  Chris- 
tian Scientists,  "iTli,  2n{. 

Kaitli-healin^',  produces  selfishness, 
4;'> ;  tendency  to  mental  denuiiie- 
ment,  4(i. 

Kaitli-healin;;  phenomena,  root  ques- 
tions concerning,  3. 

Faith-liomes,  ri7-«i<). 

Fancy  as  means  to  cure,  27s. 

Faraday,  on  future  life,  (>:},  04  ;  plane- 
tary inlluence  on,  7t'>. 

Female  coniplaint.s,  7.  !;>. 

Ferdinand  II.,  planetary  influence  on, 
7C>. 

Fever,  attempted  cure  l>y  faitli,  2;  a 
fatal  caseof  African,  17  ;  visions  pro- 
duced I'y,  1C"J. 

Fever  and  a^'ie  simulated  by  hyste- 
ria, 7. 

Fisnirc  of  tlie  heavens,  a,  71,  72,  74. 

Finger  cannot  be  restored  by  faith, 

Fire,  arousiu!;  will-power  by,  f>0. 
Fires,  ]>rediction  of  ureat.  Hi,  83. 
Fixed  stars,  inlluence  of,  73. 
FlamsU'cd,  believer  in  astndoRy,  r>7. 
Flandei-8  influenced  by  (ieniini.  72. 
Mint,  Prof.,  on  consumption.  II. 
Flint,  Midi.,  investigations  at  institu- 
tion for  blind  and  deaf,  12:>,  42f!. 
Florence  influenced  l)y  Aries,  72. 
Fluxes  cured  by  mental  rlelnsion,  21. 
Flvinif  in  tlie  air,  113. 

Foll<.lore,  !!»!). 

FiHid,  Cliristian  Science  views  of,  2t>.!, 

2iW. 
Forbes,  ."^ir  .lolin,  on  tin  viedicatriz 

naturir,  277  ;  on  mental  remeilies, 

2»4. 
Koree  of  maniier.speicli.or  tliciuj:ht,42, 
Koreliodirigs,  l.'i2,  1.').3. 
Foryery  of  sit'iiatuies.  lo4. 
Kostt-r,  Charles,  manifestatinns  of,  ii7. 

its. 
France,  witelii-i-aft  in,  2mI,  211. 
Kiaukliii.    Heiijandii,   I'U   coinniission 

to    invesliaate    Mestnei'h    |iben>im 

eiiH,  2t>  :  ette.t  of  lire.ims  on    l:il. 
Kri  iiks  of  nature.  271. 
Fridav.  coiniideni-.  -  re-.-ariliii^',  ;i4,  li>. 
Kri'-'ht,  benell.ial  elfect  ..f   •J2. 
KllerteS,    I'P'f..  le-lill V  as  ti .    I'oM  lie 

waiiec,  2!l  31. 
Future,  foretelliiiK  the.  71. 


Futuix-  events  foretold  in  dreams  l.'«6 

et  sell. 
Futun-  life,  Faraday  on,  QA,  64. 

(ialen,  lielief  in  iLstroloKy,  tiC 

(iaivinism,  siippoiied  action  of,  22. 

tiardenstone,  i^trd,  research*-*  <.f,  IH. 

(iarfleld,  lien.,  coiuetary  influence  on 
death  of,  7.'>,  7«,  82;  presentiment 
concerning  assjiasination  of,  lui, 
Hi7,  ntite. 

Oases,  action  of,  relation  to  phenom- 
ena of  witchcraft,  232. 

(iiLssner.  Father  .losepb,  cures  by.  .'•, 
ir> ;  influence  on  Mesnier,  2H. 

Oaulier,  Tlu'-ophile,  on  the  elfeets  of 
bashisli,  118. 

Gemini,  influence  of,  72,  78,  7.''>-77,  S2. 

George  III.,  planetiu-y  influence  on,  7«i. 

(iermany,  witelicraft  in,  32,  2<>1,  212; 
influenced  liy  Aries,  72;  torture  in, 
22,><. 

Ghosts,  104,  2(11. 

Go<l,  power  of,  12,  l.">4 ;  jtecuniary 
needs  of,  .■)7  ;  the  t'liristian  Scieii'- 
tists"  views  of,  244;  jiersonalitv  of, 

Goethe,  influence  of  planets   on  his 

hirtli,  <«;    Itelief  in   a8troli>;o'i  <«' '• 

vi.sions    of.    Itii);    compare<l    with 

Shakspere,  11M>. 
Goinu  out  with  the  tide,  102. 
Gordon,  Hev.  .Mr.,  relation  of  cure  of 

broken  arm,  .'■.">. 
Gout,  ( ure  of,  38. 
Grant,  tien.,  planetary   influence  on 

suncnder  of  I.ee  to,  7:'). 
Great  ISritain,  nativity  in,  confounde<l 

in  .Australia,  SS. 
(ireat  I'lavue  predicted,  77. 
(ireece,   astrolo^'y   in,  (!«>;   divination 

ill,  Ml;  witchcraft  in,  201;  belief  in 

ai)iiaritioiis  in,  187. 
(ireek  cliurches,  cures  in,  4,  ."i. 
(ireeks,  witchcraft  amoiik',  2<t!». 
(ireeii,  Chanci'llor  H.  W.,  on  Tcnuent's 

ca.se,  Uti.  H7. 
Greenbeiucr,  Trof.,  on  the  dreams  of 

the.ietf,  12«1. 
tireen  stick  (laeture  of  forearm,  .V>. 
(Jreeiiwood,  Kr.ink,  ca.se  nf    Kk'.. 
i;reu'"rv,    I'r. .  elfect    of    dreams   on, 

131. 
Grey,  SirGeoriie  I'raiicis,  anecdote  of. 

!h;,  'C 
(Iriisiiiirer.  on  lialliiclnati"iis,  l(!i),  171. 
Grinike,  Mrs.,i.ii  iiKiilal  healing.  H'\ 

■'.rl  I. 

lir..tesi|Ue  ideas,  ciMiceplion  of,  13,3. 
fJiisl.iviis  IV..  planetary  iiillileiiee  on. 


Ilaldlnal  visions,  17ll  IM. 

Hal.-,    lion.  John   I' incidence   of 

name,  04. 


300 


INDEX 


Hale,  Rev.  Mr.,  on  witchcraft,  iS'i, 
2.35. 

Hale,  Sir  Matthew,  on  witchcraft,  218  ; 
tlie  stained  ermine  of,  197. 

Hall,  Dr.  Marshall,  on  fatal  diseases 
of  children,  278. 

Hall,  Prof.  G.  S.,  on  Laura  Bridjunan's 
dreams,  125  ;  on  work  of  Society  for 
Psychical  Research,  139. 

Hallucinations,  168-181. 

Hamilton,  Sir  AVilliam,  on  dreams, 
115. 

"  Hamlet,"  the  ghost  in,  196. 

Hartley,  Dr.  David,  on  dreams,  150. 

Hashish,  effects  of,  117-119,  169. 

Hazzanl  on  Christian  Science,  259-2G1. 

Head,  fractures  of,  produced  by  Gem- 
ini, 73 ;  visions  produced  by  blows 
on,  1()9. 

Headache  cured  by  silver  dollar,  22. 

Heart-diseases,  simulated  by  hysteria 
and  indifiestion,  7;  value  of  testi- 
mony as  to  cure  of,  8  ;  fatal  case  at 
an  anointing  service,  49 ;  cured  by 
Mrs.  Eddy,  259,  260,  282. 

Heathen  compared  with  Spiritualists, 
48. 

Heller,  Brother,  African  ndssionary 
scheme,  59. 

Herl)ert  of  Cherbnry,  Lord,  vision  of, 
180. 

Hercules,  influence  of,  73. 

Heredity,  iiitlucnce  of,  86,  87. 

Heresy  iiiid  witchcraft,  211,  212. 

Herodotus  on  dreams,  110. 

Hibbert,  Dr.,  on  apparitions,  185. 

Hieroglyphics,  Lilly's,  77,  78,  80,  81. 

Hill,  Dr.  L.  G.,  at  Dover  sc^ance,  30. 

Hip-joint,  dislocated,  cnred  by  men- 
tal surgery,  269. 

Hippocrates,  belief  in  astrology,  CO. 

HobgoVdin,  vision  of  a,  173. 

Hohenlohe,  Prince,  cures  by,  3,  4,  1.5. 

Holland,  Sir  Henry,  cases  autlienti- 
cated  by,  20 ;  experience  in  dream- 
ing, 116  ;  on  sleep,  121  ;  on  som- 
nambulism, 13.5. 

Holy  Trinity,  cure  in  name  of,  .56,  57. 

Homeopatliy,  Mrs.  Eddv's  experi- 
ments with,  27.5,  276. 

Homer,  praises  astrology,  07 ;  origin 
of  some  of  his  verses,  209. 

Horace,  praises  astrology,  67 ;  on 
witchcraft,  209. 

Horary  astrolog)',  70. 

Horoscope,  casting  a,  71-74  ;  inverting 
a,  88. 

Horse  educated  in  physiology,  208. 

Florseshoe  as  a  chann,  200. 

Houdin,  Robert,  mission  to  .Algiers,  48. 

Hugo,  Victor,  deflnitiiin  of  prayer,  25.5. 

Himian  destiny,  intluencc  of  the 
heavens  upon,  71. 

Human  knowlcilge.  limitations  of,  18. 

Human  mortality,  laws  of,  18. 


Human  nature,  excesses  of,  237. 

Hume,  David,  alUged  originator  of 
mind-healing,  245. 

Humerus,  fracture  of,  cure  of,  52. 

Humphrey,  Rev.  J.  L.,  testimony  as 
to  mental  impressions,  50,  51. 

Hungary,  vampyrism  in,  188 ;  witch- 
craft in,  201,  211. 

Hunter,  John,  cases  authenticated  by, 
20,  25. 

Hunterdon  County,  X.  .T..  curious  case 
in,  137,  138. 

Hurd,  Dr.  Henry  M.,  on  imperative 
conceptions,  162,  103,  note. 

Hussites  accused  of  witchcraft,  211. 

Hutchinson  on  Massachusetts  pro- 
cedure, 224. 

Hutchinson,  Dr.,  on  impostures,  229. 

Hygiene,  importance  of,  19 ;  ignored 
by  Christian  Science,  254. 

Hypnotism,  artificial  somnambulism, 
135  ;  relation  to  witchcraft,  230. 

Hypochondria,  simulations  of  other 
diseases  by,  7  ;  the  dreams  of,  128. 

Hysteria,  peculiarities  of,  7  ;  simula- 
tion of  diseases  by,  7,  9,  24,  25  ;  the 
dreams  of,  128;  epidemic,  217,  230, 
231. 

Ideas,  transfer  of,  1,54  ;  vivid,  157. 

Identity,  mistaken,  96,  189-192;  loss 
of,  in  dreams,  129. 

Ideomania,  31. 

Idiocy,  lack  of  evidence  of  cure  of, 
16. 

Images,  their  presentation,  129. 

Imagination,  cure  of  jiaralysis  by,  25  ; 
as  an  adjunct  to  medic  ine,  265. 

Imitation,  princijde  of,  231. 

Imperative  conceptions  and  impres- 
sions, 160-162,  103,  note. 

Imposition  of  hands,  2.'>8. 

Impressions,  superatition  about,  45; 
vivid,  157  ;  allied  to  presentiments, 
160. 

Incantations,  207. 

Incredulity,  sometimes  favorable  to 
impression,  37. 

Incubus,  112,  113. 

India,  witchcraft  in,  207. 

Indian  medicine-men,  compared  with 
Spiritualists,  48. 

Indians,  witch-doctors  among,  32 ; 
Brainerd's  experience  among,  47, 
note. 

Indigestion,  simulation  of  other  dis- 
eases by,  7. 

Infants, the  dreams  of,  122,  127. 

Inflammatory  atleetions,  cure  of,  23. 
24,  38. 

Influence,  peculiarity  of  tlie  word,  ()8. 

Innocent  \III,,  action  against  witch- 
craft, 211. 

Insane,  the  dreams  of  the,  128  ;  hallu- 
cinations of  the,  168,  273. 


INDKX 


301 


Insane  asylums,  faith-homes'  ooiitri- 
butinns  t>  their  populntioii,  .'.!). 

Insanity,  -.tlD-aT'i ;  tendency  of  f;iith- 
healing  to,  46  ;  planetary  inlliience 
on,  76 ;  differentiutcd  from  dreani- 
hiK.  133. 

Inspirati,  the  Order  o(  the,  25a 

Internal  disease,  diagnosis  of,  7. 

Internal  organs,  dJ8|ilacenicnts  of,  38. 

Intoxication,  its  likeness  to  delirium, 
119. 

Innnction,  nfility  of,  4i 

Inundations  foretold  liy  astrolopy,  70, 

Investigation  hiiulered  by  supersti- 
tion, lYZ. 

Ireland,  witchcraft  in,  2tW,  21-2. 

Irish,  belief  in  witchcraft  among,  IDS, 
1S>9,  203. 

Isaiah,  on  astrology,  67;  on  witch- 
craft, 208,  210. 

Israelites,  witchcraft  among,  208,  200, 
219. 

Italy,  witchcraft  in,  201. 

"  It  sometimes  hapi)ens  that  way,"  r>6. 

Jacob,  planetary  influence  over,  85; 
dissimilarity  from  Esau,  H.\  S6. 

Jacob's  ladder,  a  ii<ael,  172. 

James  I.,  law.s  against  witchcraft,  212. 

Jaiian,  witchcraft  in,  207. 

Jastrow,  Joseph,  on  the  dreams  of  the 
blind,  124,  12/>. 

Jeremiah,  on  astrology,  07 ;  on  idol- 
atry, 221. 

Jesuits,  horror  of,  at  miracle  wrought 
on  Pascal's  niece,  24. 

Joan  of  Arc,  211. 

Johnson,  Dr.,  a  dream  of,  120;  on  ap- 
paritions, 184. 

Johnson,  Prcs.,  dreams  concerning, 
107,  note. 

Joints,  supposed  injuries  to,  8,  9  ;  con- 
traction of,  '.iS. 

Joseph,  the  dreams  of,  109. 

Judea  influenced  by  Aries,  72. 

Judson  unable  to  work  miracles,  47. 

JugKlers,  harmony  with  methods  of 
nature,  10:{. 

Jugglery  responsible  for  many  ap- 
paritions, 101. 

Julien,  planetary  influence  on,  70. 

Jupiter,  influence  of,  06,  (W,  73,  7'),  81, 
82,  87,  H8. 

Keeping  up  appearances,  13,  14. 
Kepler,  believer  in  astrology,  67. 
Kidneys,  e.vcltation  of,  through  fright, 

22. 
KiiiK  8  evil.     See  SruoKi  I.A. 
Kingston  on  consumption.  12. 
King's  touch,  efllcacyof,  24. 
Knapp,  S.  L.,  on  witchcraft,  'Jor). 
KnittiiiK-needles.  cure  of  rheumatism 

by,  2:1,  24. 
Knock,  cures  at,  4,  49. 


Knox,  John,  unable  to  work  roiraclct, 

47. 
Knickowitzer,  Ur.,  action  in  case  of 

liy.steria,  24,  25. 
"Kubla  Khan,"  its  com|HMition,  114, 

lU). 

lAcnnee  on  consumption,  12. 
Ijimeness,  cures  of,  2.  4,  5,  ;t4,  :»,  41. 
L;in^:,  Andrew,  on  apparitions,  102, 103. 
Lniiguage,  liittuence  of  astrolog}-  on, 

Lapland,  witchcraft  in,  2<»2, 

Uttcnt  energy,  ilevelopment  of,  18,  .'Uv. 

Latent  8trennlh,  51. 

Lavoiiiier  on  comndfsion  to  investi- 
patc  Mcsmt-r's  plienomcna,  26. 

Ijiws  of  chance,  Wl,  104. 

I~iying  on  of  hands,  ;{. 

I.eii,  Henry  C,  on  tiirture,  228. 

L<'cky  on  sorcery,  2oO. 

Lee,  Ceil.,  planetary  influence  on  sur- 
render of,  75. 

I/cpcrs  cleansed  by  I'hrist,  30. 

Leuret,  hallucinations  of,  160. 

Lewis,  Chiirltou  T.,  on  witchcraft  in 
(icrmany,  212. 

Life,  relation  to  thought,  247. 

Life  insurance,  x>riniiple8  of,  104, 105. 

Lightning,  divination  l)y,  80. 

Lilly,  W.,  figure  drawn  to  decide  the 
question  of  Presbytery  in  England. 
74  ;  predii-tion  of  thetireat  Kire  aiul 
(treat  Plague  of  Ix>ndon,  77 ;  exam- 
ined liefoie  Parliament  on  prophe- 
cies, 80 ;  j)ractice  of  asti ology  by,  81 ; 
acknowledgment  l<y,  o:t. 

Limbs,  cannot  be  restored  by  faith,  '.iS ; 
restoration  by  Christ  of  cut-off.  30. 

Lincoln,  President,  presentiment  con- 
cerning assassination  of,  H'p»5,  note. 

Literat\ire,  influence  of  !istr<dogy  on, 
O-S  78. 

Liver,  diseases  of,  mistaken  for  con- 
sumption, 7. 

Lloyd,  Dr.  J.  II.,  investigation  of  cure 
of  broken  arm.  h:t. 

I.ockjaw  cured  Ity  tractors,  22. 

Lombanly,  influence<l  l>y  (iendnl,  72. 

lyoiidon,  lnfluen<-ed  by  (iemini,  72,77; 
predicteil  conflagration  in,  7.'!,  77; 
the  Cireat  I'lague  in,  77. 

Longfellow,  H.  W..on  witchcraft.  2:17. 

Umg  Islanil,  witchcraft  in,  214. 

Lorraine,  vanipyrisni  in,  188. 

r.ost  dogs  tniced  by  asfr(d"gy,  81. 

liounlrs,  cines  at.  4,  15;  cftlcacy  of 
wafer  from,  4,  .^  ;  value  of  testimony 
to  ruiTS  at,  ,s;  phenomena  at,  40. 

"Luminary,"  steamship,  «x|MTlencp 
on  the,  im.  ir.7. 

Linincy,  as  result  of  eenuiiie  convcr- 
slmi,  r.I  ;  planetary  infliienco  on,  I'X 

Lunatics,  cun  d  by  "thrist,  .«» :  extra- 
ordimiry  strenuth  nbown  tiy.  51. 


302 


INDEX 


Luther,  Martin,  unable  to  work  mi- 
racles, 47  ;  condeiiiiis  astrolofiy,  8s; 
hallucinations  of,  177, 17S ;  belief  in 
witchcraft,  '211. 

Lyttleton,  Lord,  case  of,  163. 

51,  coincidences  of  the  letter,  100, 101. 
Madden,  Dr.,  biography  of  St.  Tlieresa, 

176. 
Magi  astrologers,  07. 
Magic,  9-2, 197, 198 ;  the  Bible  as  a  book 

of,  .^7. 
Magical  rites,  cures  by,  32. 
Magisni,  207. 
Magnetic  belts,  10. 
Magnetic  fluid,  exploded  theory  about, 

27,  28. 
Magnetic  healers,  relative  success  of, 

1,^. 
Magnetism,  asul)jective  conditiim,  27  ; 

relation  to  phenomena  of  witchcraft, 

232. 
Magnetizers,  relapses  among,  19 ;  com- 

jiarisons  of  cures  with  those  of  other 

sects,  3H,  42. 
Magnets,  renounced  liy  Mesmer,  28, 

43  ;  utility  of,  42. 
Matijiie  an  accursed  bird  in  Russia, 203. 
Maimed  peisons  healed  by  Christ,  39. 
Maine,  witchcraft  in,  205. 
Malifics,  73. 
Malignant  pustule,  8. 
Maujusseh  i)ractised  magic,  209. 
Manno  witness  of  Tasso's  hallucina- 
tion, 169. 
Manure,  mental  cure  for,  267. 
Manlieim,  Dorothea  Trudels  cures  at, 

5. 
Maniac  dreams,  12S. 
Manipulation,  Mesmer's  method,  28  ; 

ignored  by  Christian  Science,  253, 

2.54. 
Mai-Tt/CT),  SO. 
Maria  of  Portugal,  planetary  influence 

on,  78. 
Marriage,  coincidences  in,  96. 
Mars,  influence  of,  69,  73,  76,  87. 
Marseilles    influenced    by   Aries   and 

Gemini,  72. 
Marshall,  Sir  .Tolin,  on  ris  mcdicatrix 

Hdtiinv,  277. 
Mar>ton,  Dr.,  on  mental  healing,  24S, 

249,  2(i2  ;  cm  drugs,  204,  265  ;  on  faith- 
healing.  279  ;  on  sclf-cuie,  289. 
Martyn  unable  to  work  miiacles,  47. 
.NLissachnsetts,  witrhcraft  in,  2o."i,  213 

218,   22.V227,   22it,  231.   2:{3-2:i6;  ju- 
dicial iirocedurc  in,  224. 
Massachusetts  .Mct^iiiliy.-ical  College. 

239. 
Mas.saviellc.  irinttn  nf,  cincs  at,  4. 
Materia   nicdica,    apiurcnt    inconsis 

teiicies  of,  J40,  217. 
Matheuiatical    in-oblrms  worked   out 

in  dreams,  1.31-1.3.1. 


Mathew,  Father,  cures  by,  i ;  value  of 
testimony  to  cures  by,  8. 

May,  coincidence  regarding,  94. 

Measles  produced  by  Arie;!,  73. 

Media,  witchcraft  in,  207,  220. 

Medical  works,  bow  regarded  byChris- 
tian  Scientists,  251. 

Medicine,  tendencies  of  schools  in,  15; 
coincidences  in,  98,  99  ;  ignored  by 
Christian  Science,  2,54;  aided  by  ini- 
aginatioii,  265. 

Mediumshii),  Mrs.  Eddy  on,  261. 

Melancholia,  cures  of,  16. 

Melbourne  influenced  by  Gemini,  72. 

Memory,  connection  of  ilreanis  with, 
1.30. 

Mental  cure,  2.5. 

Mental  tlelusion,  cures  by,  21. 

Mental  derangements,  cures  of,  16. 

Mental  disease,  planetary  influence 
on,  76. 

ilental  excitement,  effects  of,  51. 

Mental  healers  compared  with  faith 
healers,  282,  283. 

Mental  impressions,  effect  of,  51. 

Mental  influence,  inefficacious  if  de- 
lusion shown,  22. 

Mental  physiology,  error  in,  .50. 

Mental  powers,  limitations  of,  63,  64. 

Mental  practices,  subtle,  254. 

Mental  process,  prayer  answered  by, 
44. 

Mental  state,  cause  of  phenomena,  28. 

Mental  stimulus  develops  latent  en- 
ergy, 38. 

Mental  treatment,  257. 

Mercni-y,  influence  of,  66,  OS,  76,  88. 

Mesn\er,  trances  under  his  perform- 
ances, 26;  influence  of  (iassner  on, 
28  ;  dispenses  with  magnets,  4.3. 

Mesmeric  healers,  reliitive  success  of, 
1.5. 

Mesmerism,  a  subjective  condition, 
27  ;  cure  of  paralysis  attributed  to, 
27;  artitlcial  soninambtdism,  135; 
.Mrs.  Eddy  on,  261. 

Metai)hysical  healing,  discovery  of  the 
science  of,  239. 

Metaphysical  obstetrics,  242. 

MeteoroloLiical  phenomena,  relation 
to  phenomena  of  witchcraft,  232. 

Methodists,  trances  among,  2;  cata- 
lejisy  among,  (i<i;  visions  amo.ig  the 
early,  177. 

Mexico,  tinancial  troubles  prophesied 
for,  83;  witchcratt  in,  2iH, 

Miller,  Mrs.,  on  cuie  by  criticism.  2s<'.. 

Mill,  rites,  2. 

Mind,  action  of  jiasscs  on,  27;  elfect 
of.ujioii  body,  31  ;  .  Ilecton  its  facul- 
ties, 31;  its  action  in  dreaming,  129; 
ixcitation  of,  by  fear  of  death,  etc., 
130;  phenomena  of,  157;  causation, 
24(1;  governs  the  body,  25.3. 


INDEX 


303 


Mind  care,  239  et  teq. ;  basis  In  laws  of 
nature,  38;  nature  at  the  root  of  suc- 
cess In,  277,  27S ;  relation  to ortlinary 
medical  practice,  289. 

M  ind-Curers,  comparison  of  cures  with 
those  of  other  sects.  15,  38,  42;  dif- 
ference between  faith-healers  and, 
279. 

Mind  healing,  alleged  originators  of, 
245. 

Minds,  influence  over  each  other  in 
dreams,  IDS. 

Miracle,  an  explaine<l,  5."). 

Miracles,  surpassing;  those  of  the  Dis- 
ciples, 13 ;  truthfulness  of  the  rec- 
ord of  Christ's,  40;  beyond  p<nvers 
of  the  best  ciiristians,  47  ;  investi- 
gation of  Christ's,  ei-C'i. 

Missing  link,  a,  52-.55. 

Missionaries,  testimony  of,  32  ;  inabil- 
ity to  work  miracles,  47. 

Mix,  Mrs.,  cures  by,  6,  1.5. 

.Mohumniedan  priests,  reputed  power 
to  work  miracles,  47. 

Montlily  prosnosticators,  67. 

Montreal,  cures  in,  4. 

Moon,  influence  of,  66,  75,  76 ;  afflic- 
tion of,  7:{. 

Moore,  Tom,  planetary  influence  on, 
7a 

>foravia,  vampyrism  In,  188. 

Morbid  Kr'>wths,  cures  of,  38. 

Morjtan,  Mrs.,  testimony  from  Ade- 
laide, Australia,  12,  13. 

Mormons,  cures  by,  35-.37 ;  compari- 
sons of  cures  with  those  of  other 
sects,  38  ;  cures  attributed  to  devils, 
45. 

Morphy,  Paul,  planetary  influence  on, 
76. 

Moses,  laws  against  witchcraft,  219, 
220. 

Muniliine  astrology,  70. 

Murad  V.,  planetary  influence  on, 
76. 

Muscles,  lack  of  control  of,  during 
sleep,  13.5. 

Myler,  .S.  B.,  African  missionary 
scheme  of,  .59. 

Mysteries,  the  key  to  many,  191,  192. 

Mysterious  dreams  analyzed,  i;j(J-14S. 

Mysterious  noist-s,  2.'U. 

Mystery,  as  adjunct  t<)  healing  pow- 
ers, '£i,  42  ;  in  mind-cure,  38. 

Names,  coincidences  in,  93,  94. 
Napier,  Baron,  believer  in  astrolo^'v, 

<17. 
Naples  influenced  by  Aries,  72. 
.N'aixdeon,  Louis,  <lowiifall  predicted, 

84 ;  coincidences  in  life  of,  loo.  lOi. 
Napoleons  and  the  letter  .M,  100. 
Nativities,  70-74. 
Natural  causes  in  so-called  cures,  1o, 

19  et  s<'q. 


Natural  principles,  determination  of 

questions  on,  2<1. 

Natural  susceptibility,  3. 

Nature,  healing  forces  of,  277. 

Nausea  cured  by  silver  dollar,  22. 

Nebuchadnezzar,  the  dreams  of,  109. 

Necromancy,  198. 

Negroes,  influence  of  witch-doctors 
among,  32,  33 ;  compared  with 
Spiritualists,  48 ;  catalepsy  an\ong, 
60 ;  hallucinations  among,  172  ;  a]>- 
paritions  to,  188  ;  witchcraft  among, 
200,  201, 

Nelson,  Lord,  ineflScacy  of  his  charm, 
20(J. 

Neptune,  discovery  of,  79,  103  ;  in- 
fl\ience  of,  79. 

Nerval,  Gerard  de,  planetary  influence 
on,  76. 

Ner\'es,  sensation  of  pain  in,  244. 

Nervous  debility,  effects  of  faith  in, 
:i8. 

Nervous  di-seases,  effect  of  concen- 
trated attention  on,  :i7,  .38. 

Nervous  prostration,  dreams  as  pre- 
cursors of,  150. 

Neuralgia,  cure  of,  15,  38. 

New  England,  witchcraft  in,  197,  200, 
205,  206,  212-218,  223-237. 

New  Hampshire,  case  of  exercise  of 
will  power  in,  50. 

New  .lersey,  witchcraft  in,  206. 

New  Testament,  examitiing  the  testi- 
mony of  the,  39-43  ;  no  account  of 
relapses  in,  42 ;  warrant  for  prayer 
for  the  sick,  43  ;  doctrine  of  highest 
good,  43. 

Newton,  Bishop,  on  dreams,  115. 

Newton,  Dr.,  cures  by,  2,  15,  Xi,  34  ; 
failures  of,  16;  quarrel  with  Dr. 
Bryant,  34,  35  ;  cures  attributed  to 
devibs,  4,5. 

New  York  city,  cures  by  Dr.  Simpson,  6. 

New  York  State,  witchcraft  in,  20<i, 
214. 

New  York  School  of  Primitive  and 
Practical  Christian  Science,  2.58. 

Nicholson,  T.  M.,  cured  of  fracture  of 
humerus,  52-.54. 

Nightmare,  108,  109,  111-11,3,  1:14. 

Nitrousoxid  gas,  effects  of,  117,  118. 

Noises,  mysterious,  191-1!»4. 

Northend,  Hon.  \V.  D.,  <ui  Massiichu- 
setts  procedure,  224,  227. 

Norway,  witchcraft  in,  202. 

Notoriety,  an  unwished-for,  55. 

Number  three,  associations  of,  144. 

Nursery  of  Faith,  5. 

Nutrition,  how  affected  by  concentra- 
tion of  attention,  2.5,  :iH. 

Obtaining    money    under    false    pre- 
tenses, ,58-60. 
Occult  causes,  cures  by,  26  et  se(|. 
Occult  fcucfs,  investigation  of,  20. 


304 


INDEX 


Ocean  Park,  N.  J.,   "judgments"  at, 

60 
Odylic  force,  healiiijr  by,  290. 
Oil,  anointing  with,  5,  42,  43. 
Old  Orcliard,   cures  at,  6 ;  value  of 

testimony  to  cures  at,  8  ;  failures  at, 

16;  "Zion's  Herald  "  on  faithheal- 

ing  convention  at,  19. 
Omens,  151,  201,  207. 
Oneida  Community,  cure  of  disease 

at,  286,  287. 
Onymus,  Prof.,  testimony  to  Prince 

Holienlohe's  cures,  3,  4. 
Opium,  effects  of,  117,  169. 
Oracle  of  Deljjhi,  Cicero  on,  91,  92. 
Oratorical  spells,  128. 
Ostrogoths,  witciicraft  among,  210, 
Ovarian  tumor,  simulated  l)y  hysteria, 

9  ;  failure  in  case  of,  17,  18  ;  case  of, 

33. 
Ovid  on  witchcraft,  209. 
Ox  without  a  heart,  91. 

Padua  influenced  by  Aries,  72. 

Pagan  priests,  reputed  jjower  to  work 
miracles,  47,  48. 

Pagans,  parity  with  Christiiin  faith- 
healers,  42. 

Pain,  effect  of  excitement  on,  ."il  ;  .sen- 
sation of,  in  a  removed  limb,  244. 

Palestine  influenced  by  Aries,  72. 

Palmistry,  88. 

Palsy,  cured  by  Christ,  39 :  produced 
by  Aries,  73. 

Pantheist  priests,  reputed  power  to 
work  miracles,  47. 

Paralysis,  cures  of.  1,  3-.5,  15,  25,  27, 
34  ;  simulated  by  liysteria,  7  ;  plane- 
tary influence  on,  173. 

Paralytic  dreams,  128. 

Paris,  tioubles  jjredicted  for,  83. 

Paris,  Dr.,  on  the  use  of  drugs,  27S. 

Pascal,  Blaise,  miracle  wrought  on 
liis  niece,  24  ;  halbuinations  of,  169. 

Pa.sses,  utility  of,  27,  42. 

Paul,  Emperor,  planetary  influence 
on,  76. 

Paul,  ./can,  Iiallncinations  of,  169. 

I'earce,  A.  J.,  jirediction  of,  73. 

I'eekskill.  N.  V.,  sudden  <icalli  of 
candidate  for  divine  heiiling  at,  40. 

Peel,  anecdote  ()f  Hyron  and,  190. 

Peerage,  prophesied  eftort  to  abolish, 
8.S. 

Peet,  Harvey  P.,  on  the  dreams  of  the 
deaf,  125. 

Peirce,  Prof.,  on  law  of  chance,  104. 

Pennsylvania,  witchcraft  in,  199,  200, 
21.5. 

Penn,  William,  on  witchcraft,  215. 

Peijuot  Indians,  law  regulating,  214. 

I'erfectioni.sts,  2. 

Perkins,  Dr.,  his  metallic  tractois,  22, 

Persia,  iistrology  in,  ('At ;  witchcraft  in. 
207,  22f». 


Personal    characteristics    influenced 
by  the  signs  of  the  Zodiac,  72,  73,  76, 
82,  84-87. 
Pestilences  foretold  by  astrology.  70. 

Pharaoh,  the  dreams  of,  109. 

Phenicians,  witchcraft  among,  208, 
220. 

Phenomena,  investigation  of,  20,  105, 
106. 

Phipps,  Sir  William,  action  in  New 
England  witchcraft,  224. 

Photography,  invention  of,  103. 

Physical  disease,  causes  of,  255. 

Physical  touch,  claim  for.  50. 

Physicians,  diagnoses  by,  7. 

Physiology,  how  regarded  by  Chris- 
tian Scientists,  251. 

Pilgrims,  penalties  for  witchcraft  en- 
acted by,  213. 

Pitcher,  Moll,  205. 

Plagues,  fre<|uency  of,  in  Europe,  81. 

Planets,  influence  of,  66  et  seq.  ;  af- 
fliction of,  73  ;  malefic,  73,  7.5. 

Plato,  statue  struck  by  lightning,  89  ; 
on  dreams,  110. 

Pliny,  on  sleep  and  dreams,  122,  123. 

Poetry,  composed  in  dreams,  131. 

Poisons,  eflfects  of,  266;  Cliristian  Sci- 
ence view  of,  266,  267. 

Poland  influenced  by  Aries,  72. 

Post-mortem  examinations,  conclusive 
evidence,  11 :  ignored  by  Christian 
Scientists,  272. 

Prayer,  htaling  by,  2,  4-C;  eflBcacy  of, 
by  individual  healers,  15  ;  claims  of 
efficacy  to  restore  life,  16;  mistaken 
ideas  about  signs  in  answer  to,  18  ; 
a  consolation  for  the  sick,  43 ;  Chris- 
tian doctrine  of  answer  to.  43,  44 ; 
a  point  when  unavailing  for  the  sick, 
44  ;  for  abscess  of  stomach,  56  :  un- 
successful case  of  healing  by,  in  St. 
Louis,  .58;  not  a  substitute  for  com- 
mon sense,  161 ;  Hugo's  definition  of, 
255 ;  for  a  dyspeptic,  258,  259 ;  efli- 
cacy  of,  263,  285. 

Premonitions,  influence  of,  151. 

Presbyterians,  trances  among,  2;  cat- 
alepsy among,  60. 

I'resentiment,  what  is  a,  152-1.55  ;  per- 
sonal experience,  166,  167. 

Pi-esentimcnts,  visions,  and  appari- 
tions, 151-19.5. 

Presentiments,  influence  of,  1.51  ;  re- 
lation to  dreams,  152;  allied  to  im- 
pressions, 160  ;  subjective  origin  of, 
168. 

Pressat  on  consumption,  12. 

Pressing  to  death,  218. 

Pride,  planetary  influence  on,  7.3. 

Proctor,  R.  A.,  on  influence  of  TTranns, 
79 ;  attacks  astrology,  S5  ;  on  remark- 
able coincidences,  '.HI,  97,  99,  100. 

I'roiihecics,  fulfibnent  of  .Jcwisli,  40; 
presumptions  fioni  .Jewish,  62. 


INDEX 


305 


Protestant  churches,  cures  in,  5. 
Protestants,  relapses  anions,  19. 
Providence,  New  Testament  doctrine 

of,  43. 
Prudden,  Dr.,  on  bacteriology,  2;V2. 
Psychic   energy,  healing  by  transfer 

of,  250. 
Psycho-genesis,  looseness  in  study  of, 

29,  note. 
Psychology,  importance  of  study  of, 

29,  note. 
Public   careers,   planetary   influence 

on,  73. 
Pu!tin,  planetary  influence  on,  76. 
Pyromancy,  8!). 

Pythagi)ras,  belief  in  astrolopy,  (Ml 
Pythian  priestesses,  91. 

Quack  doctors,  S. 

Quack  medicines,  18. 

Quacks,  quarrels  among,  33-35. 

Quassia,  simulated  cure  for  cholera, 

51. 
Queen  Mary's  niart>Ts,  75. 
Quimby,  P.  P.,  250. 

Radcliffe,  Dr.,  attention  paid  to  minds 
of  patients,  '284,  2H5. 

Raising  the  dead,  13 ;  the  faith-lical- 
ers'  limit,  16. 

Raleigh,  N.  C,  earthquakes  at,  78. 

Ralston  on  witchcraft  in  Russia, 
202. 

Reason,  ascendancy  of,  destroyed  by 
faith-healing  doctrine,  46. 

Reasoning  distinguisheil  from  revery, 
120. 

Red  Sea,  ghosts'  dread  of,  194. 

Reed,  Carl  H.,  testimony  as  to  an  al- 
leged miracle,  55. 

Reed,  Dr.  Kitch,  on  impressions,  160. 

Regulus,  influence  of,  73. 

Reichenbach,  Baron,  healing  by  odyl- 
ic  force,  290. 

Relapses,  13,  14,  18,  19 ;  evidence  of, 
8upi)res.sed,  19  ;  liability  of  faith- 
healers  to,  38  ;  no  aofotint  of,  in  New 
Testament,  42;  ignored  by  faith- 
healers,  47. 

Relics,  cures  by,  5. 

Religion,  tendencies  of  schools  in,  15  ; 
to  l>e  ignored  in  certain  investiga- 
tions, 20;  claim  of,  1.'>1. 

Religious  liclief  distinguished  from 
onlinarj'  l)elief,  (^3. 

Religious  mania,  cure  of,  287,  288. 

Religious  revival-s,  1-3. 

Reputation,  influence  of,  42. 

Research,  extent  of  author's,  S. 

Resemblances,  coincidences  in,  96. 

Rethel,  Alfred,  planetary  influence 
on,    76. 

Revelations,  ilivlne,  58,  63. 

Reverence,  28,  42. 

Revery,  12«,  121,  129,  155,  VA. 


Revivals,  experiences  of  converts  in, 
172  ;  visions  as  results  of,  179. 

Rheumatism,  cures  of,  5,  l.\  22,  '£i,  24, 
•27,  38,  248,  2.'i6  ;  effect  of  shock  on, 
51,52;  planetary  influence  on,  73. 

Rhode  Island,  witchcraft  in,  206.  214. 

Ringworm,  produced  by  Aries,  73. 

Roman  Catholic  churches,  cures  in, 
4,  5. 

Roman  Catholic  healers,  relative  suc- 
cess of,  15. 

Roman  Catholic  miracles,  relative  suc- 
cess of,  15;  Mr.  Simpson  on,  48. 

Roman  Catholics,  cures  of  deafness  by, 
16 ;  relapses  among,  19 ;  comparisons 
of  cures  with  those  of  other  sects, 
38 ;  use  of  oil  by,  ix,  and  note  ;  com- 
Iiared  with  Spiritualists,  48;  faith  in, 
48 ;  healed  by  God  and  the  devil,  48, 
49. 

Romans,  dreams  among,  109;  witch- 
craft among,  209,  210. 

Rome,  astrology  in,  66;  divination  in, 
89  ;  belief  in  apparitions  in,  187. 

Rosetta  .Stone,  the,  96,  97. 

Rowland,  Rev.  D.,  ctise  of,  137,  138, 
145,  146. 

Rush,  Dr.,  on  cures  of  consumption, 
21, 22 ;  employment  of  faith  as  means 
of  cure,  'is4. 

Russia,  witchcraft  in,  32,  202,  208,  205. 

Rus-so  Greek  miracles,  relative  success 
of,  15. 

Ruthlcin,  Capt.,  cure  of,  3,  4. 

Saddncecs,  232. 

Sailors,  superstitions  of,  164, 188, 189. 

Sagittarius,  influence  of,  75. 

St.  John,  Christ's  message  to,  39. 

St.  Ix)uis,  failui  e  of  prayer  in,  58. 

St.  Paul,  Ananias's  lu'ayer  for,  41;  mir- 
acles at  Melita,  41;  cures  lame  man, 
41;  his  prayer  and  its  answer,  43;  on 
idolatry,  221. 

St.  Peter,  raises  Tabitba,  41;  cures 
lame  man,  41 ;  released  from  prison, 
41. 

SL  Tiieresa,  visions  of,  176, 177. 

Salem  Witchcraft    See  Witchcr.ift. 

Salvation  Army,  catalepsy  among,  00. 

Sane?  are  subjective  visions  possible 
to  tlie,  169  et  seq. 

Sardica.  Roman  Catholic  Bishop  of, 
cures  by,  3,  4. 

Sardinia  influcnceil  by  Gemini,  72. 

.Satan,  powers  of,  177. 

Saturn,  influence  of,  66,  68,  73,  75,  76, 
81,  87. 

Saturn  in  Aries,  75,  81. 

Sausages,  phosphorescent,  2.'<3. 

Saxons,  witchcraft  among,  211. 

Scalding  water,  elfect  of,  on  rheuma- 
tism, 51,  .V2. 

Schools  in  religion  and  medicine,  ten> 
dencies  of,  15. 


306 


INDEX 


Sciatica,  cures  of,  15,  38. 

Scientific  investigation,  lack  of,  in 
witchcraft  cases,  232. 

Scipio's  dream,  109,  110. 

Scot,  Reginnld,  on  witchcraft,  209,  223. 

Scotch,  belief  in  witchcraft  among, 
19S,  199,  201,  203. 

Scotland,  consumption  in,  11 ;  witch- 
craft in,  203-20(5,  211,  212. 

Scott,  Sir  Walter,  hallucinations  of, 
169 ;  hallucination  reported  to.  170. 

Scotus,  Duns,  believer  in  astrology, 
67. 

Scripture,  misapplied,  46,  57. 

Scrofula,  cures  by  king's  touch,  24 ; 
planetary  influence  on,  73. 

Scurvy  cured  Ijy  mental  delusion,  21. 

Scythia,  witchcraft  in,  207. 

Second  Adventists,  catalepsy  among, 
61. 

Self-cure,  289. 

Self-esteem,  155. 

Sensations,  ht)w  affected  by  concen- 
tration of  attention,  25 ;  tests  of 
faith,  42. 

Senses,  exaltation  of,  135,  136. 

Sermon  composed  in  sleep,  115. 

Servia,  witchcraft  in,  201. 

Sewall,  Judge,  confession  of,  236. 

Shakspere,  tlie  poet  of  witchcraft,  196. 

Shock,  effect  of,  51. 

"  Shocks  of  vitality,"  34. 

Shorthouse,  Rev.  W.  B.,  testimony  as 
to  reputed  cures  liy  Mr.  Wood,  13. 

Sickness,  a  dream  of  falsity,  245. 

Sight,  restoration  of,  274. 

Sigmond,  Dr.,  account  of  presenti- 
ment to  Talleyrand,  157. 

Signs,  mistaken  ideas  about,  18;  su- 
perstition about,  45 ;  the  food  of  su- 
perstition, 57. 

Silent  treatment,  279. 

Silesia,  vampyrism  in,  188. 

Silver  dollar,  efficacy  of,  22. 

Simon  the  sorcerer,  45. 

Simpson,  Rev.  A.  B.,  cures  by,  6, 15 ; 
value  of  testimony  to  cures  by,  8; 
testimony  at  one  of  his  meetinjis, 
12;  supernatui-al  and  siiperlmnian 
claims  of,  48;  on  Roman  Catholic 
miracles,  48 ;  failure  at  Peekskill,  49 ; 
on  divine  healing,  4!>;  on  will  power, 
.50. 

Sin,  Christian  Science  theory  of,  249. 

Sleep,  walking  and  talking  in,  113-115; 
perfect,  116  ;  Sir  Henry  Holland  on, 
121 ;  talking  in.  135. 

Sleeping  on  the  back,  131. 

Sleight  of  hand,  92. 

Smallpox,  planetarv  influence  on,  73, 
87. 

Smollett,  testimony  to  cure  of  con- 
sumption, 21. 

Snakes,  anecdcite  of,  90. 

Socialistic  activity  itroi»hc8ie<i,  8.3. 


Society,  affectation  of  new  or  strange 
things  by,  65. 

Society  for  Psychical  Research,  inves- 
tigations by,  139-143,  281 ;  on  hallu- 
cinations, 171. 

Socrates  on  dreams,  110. 

Softening  of  brain  cured  by  Christian 
science,  2.56. 

Soldiers,  superstitions  of,  164. 

Sologne,  burning  of  a  witch  at, 
202. 

Solomon,  the  dreams  of,  109  ;  deals  in 
magic,  208. 

Sonmambulism,  109,  113-11,5,  134-136. 

Soothsayers,  91, 198. 

Sorcery,  198. 

Soul,  relation  of  dreams  to  the.  148. 

South  America,  witchcraft  in,  201. 

South  Carolina,  witchcraft  in,  206. 

Southcott,  Joanna,  belief  in  immor- 
tality of,  275. 

Southern  States,  witchcraft  in,,  199, 
200. 

Southey,  Robert,  planetary  influence 
on,  76. 

South  Kensington  Museum,  illusion 
in,  128. 

Sovereigns,  illegitimacy  of,  no  bar  to 
healing  powers,  24. 

Space  and  time,  annihilations  of,  128, 
129. 

Special  promises,  37. 

Special  providences,  43. 

Spells,  201. 

Sj)inal  diseases,  imaginary,  7  ;  cures 
of,  15. 

Spinoza,  hallucinations  of,  1C9. 

Spirit-rapping,  193,  194. 

Spiritualism,  phenomena  of,  2  ;  claims 
of  supernatural  and  superhuman 
powers  for,  48  ;  compared  witli  voo- 
dooism,  48 ;  in  relation  to  appari- 
tions, 185,  186 ;  reappearance  of 
witchcraft  in,  197  ;  Mrs.  Eddy  on, 
261. 

Spiritualist  healers,  relative  success 
of,  15. 

Spiritualists,  cures  of  deafness  by,  16  ; 
rela])ses  among,  19  ;  comparisons  of 
cures  with  those  of  other  sects,  38, 
42,  48. 

Springfield,  Mass.,  witchcraft  in,  214. 

Stargazers,  07. 

Stars  as  somces  of  jirosperity,  68.   See 

also  .ASTKOLOGY. 
Stedinger,  the,  suppressed,  211. 
Steinmetz  on  chance  and  luck,  9i). 
Stevens,  Benjamin,  ciise  of,  137,  138, 

14,5. 
Stevens,  "  Life  of  Bangs,"  K50. 
Stilling,  Dr.,  on  pneumatology,  173, 

174. 
Stinnilants,    relapses    after    use    of, 

18. 

Stovepipe,  climbing  a,  172. 


INDEX 


liOl 


structure,  alt«rHtioii  of,  how  affecteil 

by  coiiceutration  of  attention,  25. 
Stuart,  Mrs.,  on  Christian  science,  -J.Vi ; 

on  Urujts,  267.  268. 
Stupidity,  the  (Ireaius  of,  ViC 
Subjective  mental  states,  37. 
Subjugation.  26a 

SuKgestioii,  effect  on  the  mind,  35. 
Suicide,  practical,  17. 
Sullivan,  Hon.  W.,  on  Massachusetts 

procedure,  223,  224. 
Sun,  the,  influence  on  (Miothc's  birth, 

m  ;  affliction  of,  73. 
Supernal,  the,  2.'><). 
Su|HTnatiir:il  powers,  cures  by,  32 ;  not 

to  be  attributt  d  to  Christian  fuith- 

healers,  42 ;  claimed  by  faith-heal- 

era,  46. 
Superstition,  a  miirtyr  to  ;  encoin  ni:rd 

by  the  faith-healing  idea.  4.i  ;  food 

of,  .'>7  ;  its  partner,  blasphemy,  Co; 

a   preventer    of    investigation,   !»2 : 

how  broken  down,  105. 
Superstition  and  Christianity,  21i»  et 

seq. 
Superstitious,  the,  their  common  erv. 

48. 
Surgery,  indispensable  in  complex  and 

mechanical  ease,  38 ;  planetary  in- 
fluence on,  73;  Christian  views  on, 

209. 
Surgical  cases,  failure  of  faith-healers 

in,  52-65. 
Surgical  operation,  concealment  of,  to 

add  to  God's  glory,  13,  14. 
Suspicion,  effect  of,   on   scrutiny   of 

t«8timony,  15. 
Swal>ia,  cures  in,  5. 
Sweden,  witchcraft  in,  202. 
Swedenborg,  visions  of,  178,  179. 
Swift,  Dean,  planetaryinfluenceon.7(i. 
Sydenham  on  m  m«dicatrix  nafurtr, 

277. 
Symptoms,  disguising,  18. 
Syria  influenced  by  Aries.  72. 

Tabitha  raised  from  the  dead,  41. 
Talking  in  sleej),  113,  13.5. 
Talleyrand,  presentiment  to,  157-  l.'i9. 
Talnut,  hallucinations  of,  170. 
Tartini,  composition  of  the  "Devils 

Sonata"  by,  11.5. 
Tasso,  Toniuato,  hnllucination  of,  l(!!i. 
Taurus,  iiitlnence  of,  72,  73.  85. 
Taylor,  Bishop  William,  views  of,  17. 
Taylor,  Kate,  on  Mrs.  Eddy's  work. 

2-54,  255;  on  Christian  healing,  255, 

2.56. 
Telegraphing  from  moving  trains,  117. 
Telepathy,  139-141,  1.54,  1.h5,  18«,  UK). 
Templars  a<-cused  of  witchcraft,  211. 
Tennent,  William,  ease   r)f,   1S7,   138. 

14.5,  14a 
Terrell,   Park,   on  the  dreams  of  the 

deaf,  12... 


Tebtimouy.  scrutiny  of,  (i  et  seq. ;  re- 
garding hallucinations,  187. 

Thales,  belief  in  astrology,  (iti. 

Tlieatrical  spells,  128,  l-2".t. 

Theresa,  St.,  visions  of,  17(5,  177. 

Thermouieter,  cure  of  paralysis  by,  2.'>. 

Tiiomas,  Dr.  H.  ().,  account  of  cure  ot 
fractured  humerus,  r>2-,")4. 

Thought,  rapidity  of,  155;  relation  to 
life,  247;  concentration  of,  2ti<). 

Thought-transference,  259,  2tJ0,  282. 

Thrasliing,  cure  by,  286. 

Tiber,  head  of  Plato's  statue  found  in, 
89,  DO,  91. 

Tiberius  (iraeehus,  anecdote  of,  !K1. 

Time,  test  of,  in  claimed  cures.  8. 

Time  and  space,  anidhilations  of,  12S, 
129. 

Tooth  cannot  be  restoreii  by  faith,  38. 

Toothache  cured  by  silver  ilollar,  22. 

Torpid  liver,  a  new  term  for,  251. 

Toi-ture  used  to  extort  confessions. 
228. 

Towne,  Henry  R.,  interesting  experi- 
ments at  residence  of,  28-31. 

Tractors,  22. 

Trances,  1-;^;  umler  Mesraer's  i)erfor 
mances,  26;  as  results  of  genuine 
conversion,  61. 

Trance  state,  prodn<'ed  at  Towne  se- 
ance, 28-;n  ;  absurdities  in,  30,  31 ; 
simulation  of  acts  in,  3o.  31,  note. 

'lYavelers,  testimony  of,  32. 

Trench,  Archbishop,  on  astrology,  68. 

Trenton,  N.  J.,  remarkable  case  at. 
137,  1:J8. 

Trudel,  Dorothea,  cures  by,  5. 

Tnke,  Dr.,  opinion  of  Prince  Hohen- 
lohe's  cures,  3  ;  opinion  of  cures  by 
prayer,  4;  cases  authenticated  by, 
20,  21  ;  on  charming  away  of  warts, 
20,  21 ;  on  certain  cures  of  consump- 
tion, 21;  cure  of  jiaralysis  recorded 
by,  27  :  on  misapprehension  of  vis- 
ion, 189. 

Tumors,  mistaken  diagnoses,  8 ;  cures 
of,  15,  38. 

Turenne,  Marshal,  case  of,  164. 

Turner,  Rev.  Job,  dreaming  experi- 
ence of,  12<t,  127. 

Twins,  planetiuy  Influence  on,  84-87. 

Typhoid  fever  cured  by  Mrs.  Edtiv, 
276. 

Typhonianiac  dreams,  128. 

Tyjdius  fever,  effect  of  will  iK)wer  in 
case  of,  .50. 

Ikraine,  witchcraft  in  the,  2(»2. 
I'nbellever treated  by  mind-curer,  280. 
Tnconsclous  cerebnition,  131. 
I'nited  States,  influence  of  (ieniini  on. 

72,75.82;   belief  in  witchcraft   in 

I»8-20<l. 
I'niversity  of  the  .Science   of  Sj.irit. 

the,  247. 


308 


INDEX 


Unpardonable  sin,  the,  229. 
Unsuspected  mental  resources,  155- 

160. 
Uiithinkables,  249. 
Upham  on  witchcraft,  216. 
Uranus,  influence  of,  73,  75,  76,  79,  82  ; 

ignorance  of  the  ancients  about,  79  ; 

discovery  of,  103. 
Utrecht  influenced  by  Aries,  72. 

Vampyrism,  188. 

Van  der  Mye,  Dr.  Frederic,  testimony 
to  mental  cures,  21. 

Van  Heliuont,  hallucinations  of,  1C9. 

Van  Swieten,  testimony  to  cure  of  con- 
sumption, 21. 

Vapor  bath,  accident  with  a,  51,  52. 

Ventriloquism,  92  ;  and  witchcraft, 
220. 

Venus,  influence  of,  66,  88. 

Verona  influenced  by  Aries,  72. 

Vertebra;,  dislocated,  cured  by  men- 
tal surgery,  269. 

Victoria,  Queen,  planetary  influence 
on,  77. 

"  Victoi-y,"  the  horseshoe  on  the.  2(t0. 

Vincent,  Dr.  Marvin  K. ,  case  of  hys- 
teria related  by,  9. 

Virgil,  praises  astrology,  67  ;  on  witcli- 
craft,  209. 

Virgin  Mary,  visions  of  the,  4,  184. 

V^isigoths,  withcraft  among,  210. 

Visions,  influence  of,  151 ;  detined. 
168;  habitual,  176-181;  connected 
with  religious  revivals,  179. 

Visions,  presentiments,  and  appari- 
tions, 151-195. 

Vin  iiu'dicatrix  naturie,  -in,  282. 

Voodociism,  power  of,  32;  compared 
with  spiritualism,  48. 

Wales,  witclicraft  in,  212. 

War,  planetary  influence  on.  7.S. 

Warlocks,  201. 

Wars  foretold  l)y  astrology.  70. 

Warts,  charming  away  of,  20,  21. 

Washington,  I).  C,  Zadkiel's  i)redic- 
tions  of  eartliquakes  at^  78  ;  report 
from  National  Deaf  Mute  College 
at,  126. 

Watts.  Dr.,  on  dreams,  115. 

Weather,  foretold  by  astrology,  70. 

Wesley,  Charles,  on  witchcraft,  218. 

Wesley,  .Tohn,  unable  to  work  mira 
cles,  47  ;  on  vi>ions,  177  ;  on  appari- 
tions, 185;  mysterious  disturbances 
at  house  of,  193 ;  on  witclicraft, 
218  ;  vigor  of,  274,  27.'.. 


West  Indies,  witchcraft  in,  201. 

Whittier,  J.  G.,  on  Sewall's  confes- 
sion, 2;J6. 

Whymper,  E.  W.,  on  eft'ects  of  fear  of 
death  on  mind,  130. 

Wiggins,  E.  .S.,  73. 

Will,  concentration  of,  27. 

William  III.,  refuses  to  touch  for 
scrofula,  24. 

Will  power,  Mr.  Simpson  on,  50 ; 
effects  of,  .")0-52. 

Wilmans,  Helen,  on  mental  treat- 
ment, 257. 

Wine,  Edward,  cured  of  paralysis,  27. 

Winslow,  Dr.  Forbes,  on  presenti- 
ments, 1,57  ;  on  hallucinations,  178. 

Witch,  burning  of  a,  202. 

Witchcraft,  widespread  belief  in,  32  ; 
definition  of,  197, 198,  220;  its  origin, 
206,  et  seq.;  trials  for.  206,  210-212, 
214,  215,  217,  218,  223-227,  231  ;  pre- 
valence of,  207  ;  executions  for,  205, 
200,  211,  214,  217,  218,  228,  234,  2X5 : 
teachings  of  the  Bilde,  218-223  ;  ex- 
planations of  confessions  of  thosi 
accused  of,  227-22!* ;  explanation  of 
phenomena  of,  229-233 ;  reaction 
from  the  freiii^'  in  New  Englaml, 
2.33  et  seq.;  belief  in,  its  originator, 
237. 

Witch-doctors,  32,  33,  199,  200. 

Witch  of  Endor,  the,  221-223. 

Withered  hand  cuyed  by  Christ,  39. 

Witnesses.    See  Evipkxck. 

Wood,  ilr.,  reputed  cures  in  .\delaidf. 
Australia,  12,  13. 

Wordswortli,  Williau),  on  nlmsts. 
194. 

Worldly  wisdom,  58. 

Young,  Bri'j;ham,  theory  of  lost  le:j:s, 

36,  37  ;  vision  of,  189. 
Young,  Dr.  T.,  anecdote  of,  96,  97. 
Youth,  perpetuation  of,  Christian  Sci 

ence  views  on,  272-275. 

Zadkiel,  his  supporters,  65 ;  indorse- 
ment of  Lilly,  74  ;  explanation  of 
Lilly's  hieroglyphic  of  the  Great 
Plague  of  London,  77  ;  on  Lilly's 
prediction  of  the  (ireat  Fire  of  Lon- 
don, 77,  78;  on  astrology,  78;  prd- 
phecies  of,  78,  8.3,  84. 

Zadkiel's  Almanac,  circulation  "f. 
6.5. 

Zodiac,  signs  of  the,  71-74. 

Zoroastrianism,  207. 

Zuinglius,  I'lrich,  visions  of,  17^. 


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